Champaign County may not be top of mind for many people when health care or the medical industry is mentioned, but to many Champaign County businesses play an important part in providing and preserving good health and nutrition.

International Fiber Corporation’s (IFC), employs many area residents at their Urbana facility, which produces several lines of fiber additives used in the coating of different types of oral medication. IFC formed in 2000 by the merger of International Filler Corporation and Fiber Sales & Development Corporation, and actually dates back some 85 years. It has produced powdered cellulose for industrial fillers and filtration aids, as well as a consumer grade cellulose for food ingredients.

In the mid-1990s IFC was at the forefront in getting the FDA to permit the use of powdered cellulose as an anti-caking ingredient in natural cheese, shredded cheese, and grated cheese.

The Hall Co. — founded in Urbana in 1961 as a supplier of identifying nameplates, graphic overlays and panel assemblies for the aerospace, medical and entertainment industries — today is managed by the third generation of the Hall family and conducts business world-wide. In 1973 the company began making its proprietary “Big Switch” for medical equipment manufacturing clients, which is used as part of the collision avoidance system for various pieces of imaging equipment. The Hall Company is a supplier to industry heavyweights such as Honeywell, Philips Medical and General Electric and does a substantial amount of business overseas.

County residents are fortunate to have at their disposal a fully functioning hospital — Mercy Memorial — offering a broad range of inpatient and outpatient services, state-of-the-art equipment and skilled staff.

Built in 1951 and receiving many modernizing updates since, Mercy Memorial offers the residents of Champaign County health care amenities not normally afforded smaller communities: a 24-hour emergency department, general and specialized surgery, pediatric services occupational health services and a state of the art radiology department.

Mercy Memorial is a member of the Community Mercy Health Partners, one of the 10 regional networks associated with Catholic Healthcare Partners. A sister facility — Mercy McAuley Center — which is connected to the hospital, provides skilled, intermediate, rehabilitative and Alzheimer’s/dementia care.

Finally, there are several other things worth noting in the local health care arena, which at first blush may seem insignificant, but surely add to local quality of life. They include: a family YMCA offering most amenities and programming one would expect from a Y, a growing system of bike/exercise trails, several in-season Farmers Markets offering locally produced and organic food, and a grass-roots organization — Activate Champaign County — whose purpose “is to make our county a place where people who want to achieve better health can more easily stick to an exercise and nutrition program,” by offering programming which encourages active living and good nutritional habits.

Mike Morris is the economic development director of Champaign County