Byron Health Center and Breast Diagnostic Center have officially entered the 2016 Medline Pink Glove Dance Competition for a chance to win a $15,000 donation to Francine’s Friends mobile mammography and international social media attention. The filming may be over but these dedicated dancers need your vote! The Medline Pink Glove Dance is the only campaign of its kind to bring together nearly 200,000 healthcare professionals, patients and communities to celebrate hope for a cure. It’s also the only competition to honor all who’ve been affected by the disease through the joy of dancing. A special sneak peek at the submitted video will take place for those who participated in the filming on Tuesday, August 23rd, at 6:30 p.m. in the Eakin Family Room at Byron Health Center.

The fun and creative video reminding everyone that early detection is the best prevention features participants dancing to the song Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah) by Andy Grammer and was filmed at Byron Health Center by local videographer Clay Stahlka. The dancers are all wearing pink-colored exam gloves to support breast cancer prevention and to let those facing the disease know they are not alone. Residents and staff from Byron Health Center as well as staff members of Fort Wayne Radiology and Breast Diagnostic Center also added their pink glove dancing to the video. The video features Byron Health Center CEO Deb Lambert, who is herself a two-time breast cancer survivor.

“We are so excited to be part of this movement!” said Lambert. “Our video is a meaningful and memorable way to let everyone know how Francine’s Friends mobile mammography helps let people in northeast Indiana know it’s ‘good to be alive’ and that breast cancer can be beat by realizing that early detection is the best prevention as well as to honor and support those dealing with breast cancer.”

Byron Health Center partnered with Breast Diagnostic Center to create their video. Together, they have raised over $2,000 for Francine’s Friends mobile mammography. To see and vote for the video, visit: www.pinkglovedance.com beginning September 12th and search for Byron Health Center and Breast Diagnostic Center. Other entrant’s videos can be viewed as well.

Byron Health Center and Breast Diagnostic Center encourage everyone to vote for their video starting Monday, September 12th. Please visit: www.pinkglovedance.com , search for the video, vote and share. You can then vote daily, once per each valid email address. Voting runs through September 23rd. The winners will be announced September 30th.

"The passion and energy displayed by the thousands of participants is infectious and inspiring. They are all helping to make Medline’s Pink Glove Dance a ‘movement’ in every sense of the word,” said Andy Mills, president of Medline.

Byron Health Center, Breast Diagnostic Center and Francine’s Friends mobile mammography would like to thank all those that made the filming possible including Clay Stahlka among others for their unrelenting support of the project.

History of Medline’s Pink Glove Dance

Back in 2009, Medline Industries, Inc. turned everyday exam gloves from green to pink and launched an aggressive breast cancer education campaign to help take the scary out of detection exams and remind nurses about the importance of creating a comfortable, friendly and open dialogue with their patients. A few years later, Medline created the Pink Glove Dance video competition, bringing together nearly 200,000 healthcare professionals, patients and communities to celebrate hope for a cure and honor all who have been affected by the disease through the joy of dancing. More than 20 million YouTube® views later, the Medline Pink Glove Dance competition has inspired more than 1,000 dance videos and raised nearly $2.5 million for breast cancer prevention and free mammograms for women in need through the National Breast Cancer Foundation and other charitable organizations across the country.

About Byron Health Center

Byron Health Center provides compassionate long-term care for adults with complex needs including physical, mental, emotional and neurological services which meet the needs of both young and older adults. Each resident is recognized as an individual with unique needs who seeks and deserves to reach his or her optimal potential. Byron Health Center and Byron Residential Center continue a tradition of over 160 years of serving the long-term health care needs of Indiana residents. Byron Health Center is licensed to provide intermediate and skilled nursing care while Byron Residential Center provides services to individuals who are more independent and are able to live in a residential setting.

About Breast Diagnostic Center

At the Breast Diagnostic Center, we are committed to providing the highest quality breast imaging services. We want you to feel well cared for in a pleasant environment and encourage you to actively participate in managing your breast health. Our staff is focused on breast imaging. Board Certified mammography technologists perform all exams. They are also registered with the ARRT and certified by the Indiana State Board of Health. Our experienced radiologists are board certified and experts in reading breast imaging.

About Francine’s Friends mobile mammography

Francine’s Friends mobile mammography is a non-profit organization with a vision to increase cancer screenings in Northeast Indiana by providing a highly accessible and visible community resource and a mission to make early detection of breast cancer available to every woman in Fort Wayne and the surrounding area regardless of her ability to pay. The purpose of Francine’s Friends is to provide mobile mammography screening and follow-up services to every woman who might otherwise not have access. Several goals include taking mammography screening to areas where women have difficulty accessing healthcare, increasing the number of screening mammograms by being a highly accessible and visible community resource and reducing breast cancer deaths through early detection.

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. Based in Mundelein, Ill., Medline manufactures and distributes more than 350,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, physician offices, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies and other markets. Learn more at www.medline.com.