Hood Council Meeting: Patar 2001

Hood Council Meeting

Patar 2001

Attendees: Fiona Kent, Carmela Herendez, Rebecca Wilsonoff, Johan Shazad, Julio Wilsonoff

The hood council meeting comes to a start with Rebecca Wilsonoff noting the collection from the recent tax day.

"§61,000 was collected from registered Apple Valley residents while §150,000 was collected from tourist fees and usage fees. A grand total of §211,000 is available until 2004 when another tax collection will be due."


Fiona opens the floor for proposals from each council member.

"Personally, I would love to see a theater for the children and residents. We need more culture options in the hood. Let's start with Carmela."



Carmela agrees. "My proposal does include a theater. Two in fact. An amphitheater at the Alisa Crawston Park for casual outdoor performances and another formal theater on Apple Valley Metro for more classical performances like ballet and violin concerts."

Fiona nods, "This would go very well with the musuem you proposed the other day, Rebecca. Perhaps you and Carmela can meet and combine your proposals. Let's see if we can save some money by combining them."

Johan nods. "I hope to see both buildings soon. The children need more exposure to culture and life. I can provide them with the basics such as algebra and simlish history, but I would like to start increasing the field trips for the children beyond the school yard."

"Before we can even think about more field trips," Julio interrupts. "We need to give parents the tools they need for raising thier children. I see so many children in the clinic for simple reasons that education of our parents could have avoided...dehydration, lack of exercise and the all too common 'sitting in front of the tv-itis'."

Carmela agrees. "My last report on the aging and health of the hood reflected the same thing. I agree that money should be spent on parent education as well as ensuring that our children are exposed to healthy alternatives besides sugary snacks and TV shows."

"Didn't we just install vending machines in the school?" Fiona asked Rebecca and Johan. "Are we contributing to the problem?"

Rebecca nodded. "We still can't justify hiring a full time cook for the school lunches and encourage students to bring thier lunch. However, if a student forgets thier lunch, we need to provide some form of substance even if it is a sugary drink. The extra simoleans are going towards the school as well. Correct, Johan?"

Johan nodded. "The money does help with minor repairs and school supplies. Speaking of repairs, Lyndon couldn't make it to the meeting and asked me to present his proposal. If that's ok?"

"Continue."

"The church is in desperate need of a renovation. The space is too small for weddings and Lyndon proposes adding a second floor for wedding celebrations and a small banquet hall. Also, the graveyard is in need of more landscaping and better lighting."

Fiona nodded.

"Any one else would like to add anything to the meeting?"

"Yes," Carmela spoke up. "We still need a place where pet owners can take thier animals."

"Any other proposals, please submit them before the next meeting."

Results of the meeting

Church renovation=§15,000

Adapting existing parks with pet facilities=§7,000

Apple Valley Metro Theater=§50,000

Alisa Crawston Amphitheater=§5,000

Pet Registration Festival=§1,000

Apple Valley Children's Park=§50,000

Total Budgeted For=§128,000

Remaining=§83,000

Medical Notes: New Medical Centre & Fees

With the slowing of the economy, every resident is making cutbacks, including the medical centre.

New Centre
We have sold the land that the medical centre sits on and with the help of Li Sweeny, we're revamping the medical centre. Let's face it, we're a small hood and we do not need the high tech services as the larger hoods, The medical centre will now have a small gift shop and pharmacy, examination room, small waiting area, and small operation room (with plastic surgery, labor and delivery and other surgeries).

Job Cutbacks
We no longer have the need for a pharmacist, which is probably great news to the young man we hired. I have a feeling that he rather be anywhere but here. However, that means that for the time being I must run everything. I will now attend all births and surgeries.

Fee Increases
Fees have also increased for several medical services.

Medical Centre Director: Fee Schedule

Good news and bad news. The Medical Centre employees are getting raises. With the cost of living and market rates our raises are now


*Medical Centre Director-§600/simdaily (§3000/simweek)
*Medical Centre Nurse-§400/simdaily (§2000/simweek)
*Medical Centre Surgeon-§500/simdaily (§2500/simweek)
*Medical Centre Psychologist-§500/simdaily (§2500/simweek)

Total Salary Costs=§2,000/simday (§10,000/simweek)

Bad news. To compensate for the higher wages-the fees must increase and changes made to the Medical Centre

The previous Medical/Community fees were:
Broken Limb = §1,500
IVF Treatment =§5,000
Induced Labor= §2,500
Consulation with Doctor =§100
Plastic Surgery/per part= §3,000


New Proposed Fees are:
Broken Limb =§1,500
IVF Treatment =§5,000
Induced Labor= §2,500
Consulation with Doctor (mandatory once each lifespan)= §250
Plastic Surgery/per part =§3,000
Pre-Natal Fees=§2,000
Childbirth Fee=§1,000
Surgery=§2,000


There are other fees for such items as rehabilitation, overnight stays, etc. However, these are a case-by-case basis.

The gift shop will no longer sell oranges and will increase the supply of prescription drugs. A rooftop basketball court and hot tub have been added for healther living while one of the overnight rooms have been remodeled to become a plastic surgery room. An indoor pool has also been installed and hopefully more residents will visit the centre for thier everyday health needs-not just in emergencies.

Medical Note-Pharmacy Expansion

The pharmacy is in need of expansion. Right now the gift shop is selling plenty of items and bringing in most of the profits. We're going to expand the product selection soon, however, the phamarcy needs to be expanded as well with more medicines and over-the-counter drugs.

Medical Centre Note-Health Insurance

I report to the Community Director and one of her objectives is to research health insurance options. Thus this assignment falls to me. I've looked at other hoods to see how thier health insurance works and if health insurance is a neccessary part of Apple Valley life.



The fundamental concept of insurance is that it balances costs across a large, random sample of sims. Apple Valley is a small sample of sims and in addition, medical costs are low in the hood and sims do not utilize the medical centre as often except for prescriptions. Also, there has not been a need for expensive procedures such as surgeries and intensive testing.


Current Medical Fees
Broken Limb $1,500 (0)
IVF Treatment $5,000 (1)
Induced Labor $2,500 (1)
Consulation with Doctor $100 (0)
Plastic Surgery/per part $3,000 (0)
Prescription Medicine $450 (4)
to be added
Rehabilitation Services/per simday $500 (0)
Midwifery Services (including pre-natal care, delivery, 1st check-up) $1000 (0)

There are numerous health care options, I would recommend a non-profit hood funded/managed healthcare system. This can be accomplished by having an additional tax for each household (say about $50-$100/simweek). This would currently provide about $900-$1800 a simweek for the healthcare bank. This money can be used to reduce the cost of services for residents that use it during the simweek. However, this would require more thought and planning.


Due to the lack of need for a health insurance and amount of difficulty in creating such a program, I recommend that the topic be shelved until next simweek to see if any changes have been noted in the hood and the health of the residents. Until then, residents can use the options currently available to them (installment plans, welfare assistance application, healthy living).

Medical Centre Note-Lectures

To get more patrons out to the clinic and learning about thier health, I started a series of health classes at the clinic. The classes are held outside, so passerbys would be interested to stop by. The lectures are every simMonday, simWednesday and simFriday at 3pm (about three lectures a season). There is wheat cake and herbal tea for refreshments and Q&A as well.

Lectures Schedule:
Keeping Cool this Summer (Summer 1, Day 1) -Ellsworth Dawson

Exercise and Health (Summer 1, Day 3)-Jan Dawson

Basic First Aid (Summer 1, Day 5)

Preparing for Cold & Flu Season (Fall 1, Day 2)
Safe Babysitting Practices (Fall 1, Day 5)

Medical Centre Note: Stone Veins

There is a case of stone veins in the hood. The first case I ever saw, but after looking back through the records, there may have been another case, but simply undiagnosed. From my research:



Stone Veins

1. What is Stone Veins?


2. What are the sign and symptoms of Stone Veins?


3. How is Stone Veins diagnosed and evaluated?


4. What is the treatment for Stone Veins?

1. What is Stone Veins?
   Stone Veins is a rare terminal blood disorder that affects less than 1% of the sim population. The condition develops when the arteries that supply blood to the internal organs, arms, and legs become completely or partially blocked by the tightening and imflammation of the blood vessels. Stone Veins has a strong hereditary tendency, although the exact cause is unknown.


2. What are the sign and symptoms of Stone Veins?
   The inflammation of the arteries can lead to poor blood supply to tissues of the body in patients with Stone Veins. This can cause painful, cool or blanched extremities, dizziness, headaches, chest pain, and abdominal pain. Other early symptoms can include fatigue, weight loss, and low-grade fever.


3. How is Stone Veins diagnosed and evaluated?
   During a physical examination, the doctor will look for signs that are indicative of periphStone Veins, including weak or absent artery pulses in the extremities, specific sounds that can be heard over the arteries with a stethoscope, changes in blood pressure in the limbs, and skin color and nail changes due to tissue ischemia. In addition to the history of symptoms and the physical signs of Stone Veins described above, doctors can use imaging tests and blood tests in the diagnosis of the disease.


4. What is the treatment for Stone Veins?
   If Stone Veins detected early enough, it can be treated by suppressing the inflammation with medication. However, most patients do not improve, and stronger medications which suppress the immune system and relieve pain are used until the patient's demise.

Medical Centre Note-List of Services

Decided to make a list of the services available from the Medical Centre in addition to primary care and diagnosis:

Inpatient Care
Plastic Surgery: includes pre-surgery consultation to determine what the patient desires and how to accomplish this, the surgery and one day of inpatient admittance to monitor the patient's health.
Childbirth: includes pre-natal visits and check-ups, deliver either in hospital or at home, and first healthy baby check-up.

Out-Patient Care
Setting of Broken Limbs
Weight Loss Assistance: consultation with doctor to determine a healthy plan to lose weight with regular check-ups to monitor progress.
Physical Rehabilitation: consultation with doctor to determine a healthy plan to gain use of limbs again with regular check-ups to monitor progress.

Medical Centre Note-Pharmacy

Too many sims are trying to buy prescription drugs in bulk. This means that we keep large amounts of drugs in inventory, which isn't good. From now on, I will have to personally give each sim the appropiate prescription and only sell over the counter drugs at the pharmacy.


Right now there are three prescription drugs with regionally imposed expiration dates-so they must be taken within two simdays of purchase, so it's not good to save for future usage. :

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that cures the common cold, flu or pnemionia pretty quickly. I will now only prescribe the drug in cases of pneumonia, flus and colds that have been longer than two simdays and virus. The sufferers from the common cold can buy OTC drugs, drink lots of orange juice and rest.

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that aids in weight loss. Will only be prescribed in extreme cases after a battery of tests measuring fat percentage, family history, and pysche evaluation. Otherwise, sims can consult with me and we'll create a fitness and health plan that includes dieting and exercise to lose weight.

-A pill (available by prescription only from Katy76) that aids in insomnia.