There’s Just No Stopping the Pink Glove Dance

MUNDELEIN, IL–(Marketwire – October 11, 2010) –  The more than 4,000 healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors who danced in the Pink Glove Dance: The Sequel video are still working to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention — and maybe inspire more people to dance and support the cause. Medline Industries, Inc. — the makers of the pink gloves and creator of the dance videos — has just posted videos from each of the 12 healthcare facilities and breast cancer survivor groups that participated in the Pink Glove Dance sequel. The videos can be viewed at www.pinkglovedance.com.

“Our video involved doctors and nurses, employees, students, survivors and others from the IU Simon Cancer Center, the IU school of nursing and medicine, and Clarian Health,” said Michael Schug, communications specialist at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. “So, a lot of our people danced to help spread the word about breast cancer awareness. To let our dancers and community know about our custom video, we have done mass e-mailings, posted it on our Facebook pages, YouTube channels, and Flickr accounts. It’s definitely gone viral around here.” 

Linda Rumore, purchasing agent for Thibodaux Regional Medical Center in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and the coordinator of the shoot at the hospital said: “The video is such a morale booster for all of us throughout the hospital because it’s such a great cause. It’s like Christmas Eve here because everyone is so excited and honored to be involved in the video.”

The original Pink Glove Dance video was launched about a year ago with healthcare workers at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. Because of the overwhelming response from the video (now with more than 11.8 million views on YouTube), Medline went across the country and into Canada to film healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors dancing in pink gloves to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention. The result was The Pink Glove Dance: The Sequel, which was launched September 17, featuring workers from 11 hospitals, three nursing homes and breast cancer survivors in five different locations from the Golden Gate Bridge to New York’s Times Square and several points in between. (See list of participating facilities and locations at the end of this release.)

“I cannot begin to tell you what participating in the video does for someone like me — a survivor. After going through hell and back and being able to have fun, dance and share these moments, it’s amazing and it shows how Medline really cares and thinks about the people they are serving,” said Annette Rodriguez, a New York City resident and participant in the survivor shoot in Times Square. “Being in the video shows that we aren’t just pieces of meat being dealt with, we are people too. People aren’t noticing the lack of hair or how skinny or fat someone is getting from treatments. It made all of us feel beautiful and allowed us to just have fun, let loose.” 

Since the original video was released last November, the Pink Glove Dance has grown way beyond Medline’s efforts. In the past year, more than 80 pink glove videos have been posted on YouTube from around the world (including Germany, The Netherlands and Canada) featuring people dancing in pink gloves to support breast cancer awareness. Some of the more interesting videos feature the Penn State women’s basketball team, students in elementary schools, high school cheerleaders, grandmothers, and even cats and babies wearing pink gloves.

Medline originally developed the pink exam gloves and the Pink Glove Dance video as a way to spread awareness for breast cancer prevention.

“Breast cancer awareness and prevention is now the largest philanthropic cause in our company,” said Andy Mills, president of Medline. “The pink gloves are symbolic of healthcare workers’ connection with breast cancer patients. Prevention and early detection are among the most important ways you can fight breast cancer and that is why our campaign focuses on helping fund mammograms for women who cannot afford them.”

Medline donates $1 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for every case sold of its pink gloves to help fund mammograms for underserved women. Medline has donated more than a half million dollars to provide education and free mammograms to those in need and continues to make contributions every year.

About Medline
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.

Who is in the sequel?
The sequel features more than 4000 healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors from 14 separate facilities in the U.S. and Canada (11 hospitals, 3 nursing homes and 5 separate breast cancer survivor shoots). Here is a list of participating locations:

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Portland, Oregon

University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center
Indianapolis, Indiana

Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Inc.
Tallahassee, Florida

Saint Michael’s Medical Center
Newark, New Jersey

The Medical Center of Plano
Plano, Texas

HCA Johnston?Willis Hospital
Richmond, Virginia

Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla
La Jolla, California

Sky Ridge Medical Center
Lone Tree, Colorado

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center
Thibodaux, Louisiana

Capital Health
Halifax, Nova Scotia

Burgess Square Healthcare and Rehab Centre
Westmont, Illinois

Isabella Geriatric Center
New York, New York

Lorien Health Systems
Maryland

Breast Cancer Survivor Sites
New York City
Chicago
San Francisco
Minneapolis
Portland