NORMAL - The slowing economy has had a major impact on McLean County's free clinic for the uninsured.

Every three to four days, the Community Health Care Clinic is processing 50 to 100 applications from prospective patients, compared with 100 applications a month earlier this year, said Clinic Executive Director Shirley Drazewski and Clinic Coordinator Mike Romagnoli. As a result of the flood of applications in recent weeks, the clinic decided last week that it would process applications already returned but would put a freeze on accepting any new applications until after the first of the year.

"We can't accommodate 400 new patients a month," Drazewski said of her staff and volunteers. "We've never seen applications going out this fast before."

Referrals from other health care providers and patients with urgent needs will be accommodated, she said.

The vast majority of the applicants are working but part-time, meaning they don't have health insurance benefits. Some of the applicants have recently experienced a reduction in hours from full- to part-time, meaning they lost health insurance, Romagnoli said.

Some of the applicants would be new clinic patients. Others are former clinic patients who had ceased being clinic patients when they got full-time jobs with health insurance.

But as their work hours have been cut to part-time, their health insurance has been cut as well, Drazewski said.

"Their employers can't afford benefits, and that includes health insurance," Drazewski said.

The clinic, 902 N. Franklin Ave., Normal, is for people without access to health insurance. Most clinic patients work at low-wage service jobs that don't have health coverage. Many of the clinic's 3,000 patients have chronic conditions (such as high blood pressure, diabetes or cardiovascular disease) that must be treated to keep the patients out of hospital emergency rooms.

Because the clinic gets no federal or state money, instead relying on donations and funding from agencies such as United Way of McLean County and John M. Scott Health Resources, donations and funding may need to increase, she said.

Continued efficiency of the clinic is vital to McLean County, she said. Keeping people healthy means they are better parents, employees and members of the community.

"A healthier community is a stronger community," Drazewski said.