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IU Health Bloomington stars in video to support breast cancer awareness

Video entered in national competition to win $10,000 for the IU Health Olcott Center
Bloomington, Ind. (October 10, 2011) -- The Pink Glove Dance is spreading…to the Indiana University Health organizations in south central Indiana.  Employees, patients and friends of the IU Health in Bloomington, Bedford and Paoli are starring in their own Pink Glove Dance video to help spread the word about breast cancer awareness and prevention. The video was submitted to a national competition to determine the best Pink Glove Dance video. The competition is sponsored by Medline Industries, Inc., manufacturer of the gloves and producer of the original Pink Glove Dance video.
As part of the contest, IU Health Bloomington’s video is posted on along with the videos of the other participants to be viewed by the public. Viewers can vote on their favorite video (voting requires a Facebook® account). Voting is open now through October 21 and winners will be announced on October 28.  If it wins, IU Health Bloomington will donate the prize to the IU Health Olcott Center for Cancer Education, which provides free education, support and advocacy to people in our region affected by cancer.
“Our employees were so excited and inspired to be part of our own Pink Glove Dance.   It was not only a lot of fun to participate, but the awareness and discussion about breast cancer we’re creating from the video is the real satisfaction we’re taking away from this experience,” says Sharon Ormstedt, director of Surgical Services at IU Health Bloomington and a lead in coordinating the Pink Glove Dance video.     
The song used in the IU Health Bloomington video was Firework by Katy Perry, one of eight official songs used in the competition thanks to the generous approval of several recording artists. 
The original Pink Glove Dance video premiered in November 2009 and featured 200 Providence St. Vincent Medical Center employees in Portland, Ore. wearing pink gloves and dancing in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Today, the video has more than 13 million views on YouTube® and has spawned hundreds of pink glove dance videos and breast cancer awareness events across the country. A sequel was produced last October featuring 4,000 healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors throughout North America.
“As a way to extend our breast cancer awareness campaign, we developed a pink glove called Generation Pink™,” says Andy Mills, president of Medline.  “Gloves are also the first point of contact between the healthcare worker and the patient. And, because the glove is pink, we hoped it would get people talking about breast cancer.”
Medline is donating a portion of each sale of the pink gloves to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). To date, Medline has donated more than $800,000 to the NBCF to fund mammograms for individuals who cannot afford them.

Why a Pink Glove video contest?

As a result of the original Pink Glove Dance video and the sequel videos, Medline has received hundreds of calls from healthcare facilities, breast cancer survivor groups, schools and other organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada inquiring about participating in another video. 
“The response we received has been overwhelming and heartwarming,” says Sue MacInnes, Medline’s chief marketing officer. “We were flooded with calls, e-mails and letters about the joy the videos have brought, and people were asking if they could participate in another video. We didn’t want to leave anyone out who wanted to be in a Pink Glove Dance video, so we thought a competition could include everyone who wanted to participate. All these videos from the competition will help bring attention to breast cancer awareness and prevention.”

About Indiana University Health Bloomington

Indiana University Health Bloomington has provided leading care to south central Indiana for more than 105 years.   As a not-for-profit organization, IU Health Bloomington serves a patient base of more than 415,000 people in 10 south central Indiana counties.  It holds Magnet designation as well as Primary Stroke Center certification, is an accredited Chest Pain Center and received approval with commendation from the Commission on Cancer. To learn more about IU Health Bloomington, visit iuhealth.org/bloomington or call 812.353.5252.
As the only nationally recognized healthcare system in Indiana, Indiana University Health is dedicated to providing a unified standard of preeminent care. A unique partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine – one of the nation’s leading medical schools – and the depth of experience from the most complete network of highly skilled specialty and primary care physicians, gives IU Health unparalleled strength in delivering assurance to patients. Discover the strength at iuhealth.org.
As the nation's largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies, Medline is focused on helping to improve the quality of care for patients and residents. Breast cancer awareness is a natural extension of Medline’s corporate mission to help save lives through the early detection of breast cancer. (Visit www.medline.com/breast-cancer-awareness for details). Based in Mundelein, Ill., Medline manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies and other markets.

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