On another note, I keep losing things I KNOW I had, like that sewing kit or that cast-iron frying pan- I’ve ended up resorting to debug in a couple of cases. I store most of my stuff in a single locker- is it possible for items to overflow, or do I just have poor organization?
Yes. Each tile has a limit of how much item volume it can store. For a locker, that limit is most likely 500 Liters (a tile without anything built onto it has a limit of 1000 Liters, and bookcases/dressers store up to 2000 Liters, so you might want to put your stuff somewhere else). However, if you drop an item that is over that limit, it will simply overflow onto one of the surrounding 8 tiles* (if they can store it). After that, it will overflow again for one tile (centered on the tile you’ve dropped it on), but I think that’s the max (based on my old experience, currently testing and just now verified).
After that, any dropped item will be voided and is gone forever.
*It will try the tile to the right of it first. After that, it will go clockwise until it reaches the tile on the top right.
Once it filled all the spaces on and around the targeted tile, it will continue to the right, based on the last field on the top right (as in: one to the north and two to the east of the targeted tile). Once again, it will fill the 16 tiles clockwise.
Based on that, I’d guess you just have poor organization skills… 
As for your other question about the hospital and the best strategy… There’s not a single best, but multiple that will work. Everyone probably have “the one” that they like the most, but might not work for everybody.
My suggestion: Try it. If you think this or that will work; try it.
Just to prevent “expensive” lessons, bring a backup plan and another backup plan if the backup plan fails. And probably a third backup plan, just in case…
If you don’t mind to “look ahead”, you could also create a new world (and keep your current one) with a new character and try (with or without debugging powers) different strategies.
I think sometimes, in the case of your sewing kit, you will drop the kit when reloading it with thread. I’ve had times I -KNEW- I had a kit/needle only to notice it was missing later on. I just happened to notice it was on the floor instead of in my inventory one time after reloading it, otherwise I would’ve walked off without it and been none the wiser.
I don’t remember if it only happened when in the inventory or if it was wielded too, but now I know to check. Hope this helps!
Regarding backup plans: always include at least one bugout plan in the set: Withdraw and leave the location for later if it seems to be too dangerous.
That’s what I mean with backup plan. But also plan in fast Zombies and how to get rid of them…
I think it’s important to spell out that retreat is and should be a very valid action, as many games don’t accept “failure”, leading to a mindset that you have to get through, which is flawed when applied to a survival situation.
I find you can’t really plan for fast zombies you stumble into, but you can plan for those you can see at a distance. I also tend to bring additional equipment in my vehicle so I can switch gear to deal e.g. with electric ones if those are encountered.
Have zombie pheromone ready, tasers, or a shotgun if it comes to it. Have a vehicle ready.
I’ll write it again; have multiple plans ready if you need to flee and are followed by fast Zombies. Plan it in, or it will end messy.
If you can find a bunch of scientist corpses or zombies they’re bound to have a few scientist ID cards on them, which will let you bypass the locked metal door on labs. You can usually see these zombies near or at research facilities, which are basically surface labs.
Good thing about hunting these zombies is that if you dissect them you can tear out some of their cybernetics for you to clean up and install in your own body.
Here’s a list of their CBM drops:
And here’s a list of other CBM’s you can get from corresponding zombies:
If you decide to dig through the building don’t do it in the main hallway and be sure to peek through every door, as turrets will be out. If you use the ID card, you can bypass these dangers as they’ll be despawned.
Also don’t confuse Labs with Science Labs, Labs are the ones you want to go after if you’re looking for the map computers.
Well, given that Labs are filled to the brim with zombies, it’s probably less risky and more player time efficient to just travel around and climb high buildings to get a view of the surroundings. Labs are also silly full of “stuff”, so sorting through that to find things you want takes a lot of effort as well (I tried using sorting zones in one lab once, and when it worked (with a number of zone gotchas), which was only for about a quarter of it, sorting would probably have taken days if I hadn’t aborted it and excluded the one at a time sorting of glass shards: they’re real time killers).
The weird thing is that labs used to be all the same, science labs that is. If you want the finale you go to a science lab, if you want to mess around and collect CBM’s you’re better off in a lab.
Lab’s aren’t really that worth the effort of looting in my opinion, you’re better off looting the OTHER lab since the rewards are better and the area and building is larger and more varied.