If you've run Buried City more than a couple of times, you've seen the padlocked door tucked away in the Hospital and wondered what's worth locking up that deep into ARC territory. The Buried City Hospital Key is the answer — a Rare access key that pops a single sealed room in the north-west corner of the Hospital, and the room behind it has a habit of dropping blueprints, valuable trinkets, and — on a good roll — another Epic key. The problem is nobody tells you straight where the key comes from, how to actually reach the door without dying to a Pop, or whether the detour is worth your raid slot. This guide fixes all three, with the verified facts pulled from the ARC Raiders Wiki — not guesswork.
Quick answer (TLDR): The Buried City Hospital Key is a Rare, single-use access key (weight 0.25, sells for 100 coins) that unlocks one locked room in the north-west corner of the Hospital, on the Second Floor, in Buried City. You get it two ways: as a guaranteed reward from the "Life of a Pharmacist" quest (which also pays 29,000 XP), or as a random scavenging drop from loot containers around Buried City. The Hospital sits in the northern section of the map, right next to the Northern Metro Station entrance. Inside the locked room you'll find medical loot, blueprints, high-value trinkets — and the room has been documented dropping the Epic Dam Control Tower Key, which chains you straight into another locked vault. Worth it if you already hold the key; not worth a suicide run across a hot map.
What is the Buried City Hospital Key in ARC Raiders?
The Hospital Key is one of ARC Raiders' map-specific access keys — consumable items that open a sealed door once, then vanish from your inventory. Per the official wiki, it unlocks "a locked room in the North West corner of the Hospital in Buried City on the Second Floor" (arcraiders.wiki). That's the whole job: one key, one room, one trip.
Here are the verified item stats — read these off the in-game card, not a third-party tracker:
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Rarity | Rare |
| Type | Single-use access key (consumed on use) |
| Weight | 0.25 |
| Vendor value | 100 coins |
| Map | Buried City |
| Unlocks | One locked room, NW corner of the Hospital (Second Floor) |
Two things to take away. First, Rare rarity puts it a notch above the Uncommon residential keys — you'll see it less often as a random drop, which is exactly why the quest route matters (more on that below). Second, at 0.25 weight it's effectively free to carry, so once you have one there's no reason not to keep it on you until you're near the Hospital.
If you're working through the whole Buried City keyring, this slots in alongside the Buried City Residential Master Key and the JKV Employee Access Card — same map, same "find the key, find the room" loop.
How do you get the Buried City Hospital Key?
There are two confirmed sources (arcraiders.wiki): the "Life of a Pharmacist" quest and plain scavenging. The quest is by far the more reliable of the two.
The reliable way: complete "Life of a Pharmacist"
This quest hands you the Hospital Key as a guaranteed reward, plus 29,000 XP, and you can claim it back at Speranza without even extracting. Here's the run:
- Go to Arbusto Farmacia — the pharmacy in Piazza Arbusto, Buried City. It's a green building with a large pharmacy sign, sitting under a section of collapsed highway. If you're first in, you'll have to breach the front door, which can alert nearby enemies — clear the area before you commit.
- Head upstairs to the pharmacist's apartment (the back of the building, stairs up). The quest items are documentation tasks, not combat:
- Family — photograph the family portraits on the wall at the top of the stairs.
- Skill — interact with the piano on the western wall.
- Hobbies — interact with the potted plants on the shelves.
- Taste — head back down to the ground floor and interact with the table.
- Claim the reward at Speranza. The Hospital Key (and the 29,000 XP) is yours — no extraction required to bank it.
If you haven't run this quest yet, do it: it's the only guaranteed way to hold a Hospital Key, and the XP alone is worth the detour.
The random way: scavenging
Like every key in the game, the Hospital Key can drop as random loot. As one guide bluntly puts it, "Keys can drop randomly, but searching drawers and cabinets inside residential buildings gives you a better chance of finding them" (gamerant.com). In practice:
- Prioritize cabinets, drawers and desks inside Buried City buildings over open-world loot.
- Keys surface more often in high-loot (amber/orange) zones and during heavier map conditions like Night Raid and Cold Snap.
- Other raiders who looted one and didn't extract will drop it on death — always check the bodies.
Don't dedicate a whole raid to fishing for the key. Run the quest for the guaranteed one, and let scavenged copies come from normal looting.
Where is the Hospital in Buried City?
The Hospital is in the northern section of the Buried City map — on the in-game map it's the building marked by a large red-outlined rectangle, right next to the entrance to the Northern Metro Station (dualshockers.com). That Metro entrance is your landmark; the Hospital is a big, multi-floor structure, so use it to orient before you push inside.
Two viable approaches are documented:
- Northern Metro entrance (recommended): enter on the ground floor right by the Northern Metro Station entrance, then work your way up.
- Western side near Field Depot: enter from the west near the Field Depot and turn left, pushing through the connecting rooms (gamerant.com). Expect ARC machines — including explosive Pops — patrolling the interior either way.
What's the route to the locked room?
The locked door sits in the building's north-west corner, which the ARC Raiders Wiki lists as the Second Floor. From the ground-floor Metro entrance, the documented path is:
- Climb the stairs up through the Hospital.
- Turn left and head all the way down the long hallway.
- You'll reach a room full of red lockers and hanging clothes — cross it and exit the door at the far end.
- Take an immediate right, and the locked door is right in front of you. Use the key here.
Coming from the western Field Depot entrance instead? Turn left on entry, push through the rooms (watch for patrolling ARC), spot the locker room ahead on your right, and the locked room is on the left. Both routes converge on the same north-west corner door.
A practical note: the Hospital is a hot interior. Clear the locker room and corridor before you stop to use the key — getting third-partied mid-loot with a single-use key already spent is the worst-case outcome.
Buried City Hospital Key loot breakdown
Here's the honest part thin guides skip: the room's loot is randomized. ARC Raiders doesn't hand-place a fixed list, so anyone promising you a guaranteed weapon is guessing. What's documented is the loot profile — medical-leaning gear, blueprints, high-value trinkets, and a real chance at another key. One documented run of the room turned up:
| Item pulled (one documented run) | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| IL Toro II Shotgun | Weapon | ~4,340 |
| Vita Shot Blueprint | Blueprint | 5,000 |
| Vita Shot (quick-use) | Consumable | 6,000 |
| Red Coral Jewelry | Trinket | 5,000 |
| Film Reel | Trinket | 2,000 |
| Dam Control Tower Key | Epic key | — |
Source: documented loot run (dualshockers.com). On other runs the room rolls medical bags, grenade pouches and drawer loot, and blueprints can drop but aren't guaranteed — loot quality climbs during Hurricane, Night Raid and Cold Snap conditions (gamerant.com).
The standout is that Epic Dam Control Tower Key. A single Hospital run can hand you the key to a second high-tier locked room — the Hospital room is effectively a node in the Buried City key chain, not a dead end. Combined with the consistent blueprint and trinket value, that's why this door punches above a 100-coin key.
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Is the Buried City Hospital Key worth it?
Yes — when you already have one. At 0.25 weight it costs nothing to carry, the room reliably returns blueprint and trinket value well above the key's 100-coin price, and the chance at an Epic Dam Control Tower Key gives the run genuine upside. If you've completed "Life of a Pharmacist," you've already got a guaranteed key sitting in your stash — spend it.
No — don't build a raid around it. It's a Rare key opening a randomized room in a hot, enemy-dense interior. Don't sprint across a contested Buried City to reach the Hospital, and don't burn a whole run scavenging for the key when the quest hands you one for free. The smart play is opportunistic: key in pocket, Hospital on the way to extract, in and out through the north-west corner.
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FAQ
How do you get the Buried City Hospital Key in ARC Raiders? Two ways: complete the "Life of a Pharmacist" quest at the Arbusto pharmacy in Piazza Arbusto for a guaranteed key plus 29,000 XP, or find it as a random scavenging drop in cabinets, drawers and desks around Buried City. The quest is the only guaranteed source (arcraiders.wiki).
Where do you use the Buried City Hospital Key? Inside the Hospital in the northern section of Buried City, next to the Northern Metro Station entrance. The key opens a single locked room in the north-west corner on the Second Floor — past the red-locker room, take an immediate right to the locked door.
Is the Hospital Key single-use? Yes. It's consumed the moment you open the door, so one key equals one room. To hit the room on multiple raids you'll need a Hospital Key each time.
What loot is in the Hospital locked room? Randomized medical-leaning loot: blueprints (not guaranteed), valuable trinkets, consumables and weapons. One documented run pulled an IL Toro II Shotgun, a Vita Shot Blueprint, Red Coral Jewelry, a Film Reel, and — notably — an Epic Dam Control Tower Key that opens a second high-tier room.
Is the Buried City Hospital Key worth using? Yes, if you already have one. At 0.25 weight it's free to carry and the room usually returns more than the key's 100-coin value, with blueprint and Epic-key upside. Just don't build a whole raid around reaching it.
How rare is the Hospital Key? It's a Rare key — a step above the Uncommon residential keys, so it's less common as a random drop. That's why completing "Life of a Pharmacist" for the guaranteed copy is the smart route.
