Although the community health center is able to serve more patients since moving to its current location at 819 Bloomington Road in Champaign, it still has to turn patients away regularly.

For patients who have exhausted Champaign County’s health system, it is understood that getting into Frances Nelson without health insurance means you must have a chronic health problem. 

Uninsured patients seen at the Center pay on a sliding scale based on their income, sometimes with a discount as large as 90 percent. Site Director Andrea Goldberg says that many patients, even those who receive a large discount, cannot pay the bill.

Many of the patients at France Nelson ration their health care, avoiding the doctor when they need it because they cannot afford the cost. This can eventually lead to greater health problems, or a trip to the emergency room.

The Center functions differently from just a few years ago. Today, there is no waiting list, and you have to have a chronic condition to get it. But the Center is still working at maximum capacity.

Goldberg said 30 percent of its patients are Spanish-speaking, requiring a translator in the room, such as Jose Adolfo Diaz-Lopez who comes to Frances Nelson for regular care. This can slow down each appointment, one of several factors including limited finances and staff that constrains the amount of people the center can see in one day. 

An advantage for the Center is its federal designation to help the poor and uninsured. Because it sees a larger number of Medicaid patients, it is reimbursed faster than the larger clinics. However, many of the patients seen at Frances Nelson have no form of health insurance, comprising 41 percent of all patients seen last year.