Barrington hospital sees benefits of Pink Glove Dance video contest
The votes are in and the numbers just didn't add up for Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington and its bid to win the first national contest for Pink Glove Dance videos.
In all, 139 teams from hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other organizations in 40 states and Canada participated in the three-week competition. They were competing for the chance to donate the $10,000 top prize to a breast cancer charity of their choice.
With more than a half million votes, 1.2 million views, and thousands of tweets, blogs and texts, Medline described the national contest as a “social media phenomenon.” Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, S.C., won first place with 61,054 votes, followed by a hospital in Rochester, N.Y., that drew nearly 58,000 votes, Mundelein-based Medline announced Friday.
While Good Shepherd didn't win, there were more rewards than the money involved, said Charlotte Dioguardi, a registered nurse and manger of Good Shepherd's Breast Center.
“We had so much fun, that people are still talking about it,” Dioguardi said.
That mirrors the reaction to the original Pink Glove dance video, made by employees of Medline, a manufacturer of medical products — including pink gloves — for health care providers. It drew 13 million viewers on YouTube and sparked an incredibly positive response from cancer survivors and the health care community.
Medline's website promoting the contest put it this way: “Why would perfectly sane and incredibly busy hospital workers agree to dance in a YouTube video viewed around the world? The short answer is: to get people talking about breast cancer.”
Dioguardi concurs.
Set to Kate Perry's song, “Firework,” the three-day Good Shepherd shoot involved more than 350 associates, physicians, volunteers and service providers. It also included emergency medical service personnel from Barrington, Lake Zurich and McHenry. Even new mothers and their infants participated in the filming.
Last week, officials showed the video during the annual recognition luncheon for 220 employees observing a milestone year, and it drew a huge response.
“People are still laughing about it,” Dioguardi says. “It pulled the hospital together and raised awareness about breast health and breast cancer.”
Last month's figures for mammograms were up, she says, though they typically are during October, known nationally as breast cancer awareness month.
But the reach of the video, and the more than 14,000 supporters who watched and voted for it, helped break down some of the barriers perceived around the disease and its treatments, she adds.
“It's just heartwarming,” Dioguardi says. “We really do care about breast health and breast cancer patients, and it comes through in that video.”
Advocate Good Shepherd was the only Northwest suburban medical facility to enter a video in the competition and one of six from northern Illinois. Its entry will remain accessible on YouTube. To view other submissions, visit pinkglovedance.com and search by state.