HOISINGTON — Voting was close between Clara Barton Hospital and Clinic Pink Glove and Pinehurst, N.C. on Oct. 10 when Clara Barton Hospital and Clinic rallied enough votes on Facebook to take over the 28th spot early in the National Pink Glove Video Contest.
One Facebook user posted, "You must be very proud. We live in the Pinehurst area and Pinehurst is a huge medical facility."
In all, 139 teams from hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other organizations in 40 U.S. states and Canada participated in the three week competition. Clara Barton Hospital and Clinic are very proud of their 25th place finish in the national contest which was announced on Oct. 28. Not only did Clara Barton’s video pass Pinehurst, Clara Barton’s video went on to capture enough votes via Facebook, in the last few days of the contest, to surpass not one but two organizations from the Louisiana area, a group from Texas and one in Oklahoma.
"This is what makes the 25th place finish, with 4,415 votes, so special," says Curt Colson, president and CEO of Clara Barton Hospital and Clinics. "Our video was trailing organizations with populations of 14,000 to 109,000 respectively."
Clara Barton Hospital is a 23-bed critical access hospital located in Hoisington, a population of just over 2,700. "It was amazing to watch the contest unfold and to see our video compete next to these larger facilities," states Michelle Moshier, executive director of the Foundation and Clara Barton Foundation’s Facebook administrator.
Overall, winning the competition was not Clara Barton’s primary goal. "We knew going in that our size alone would probably keep us from competing well. We certainly underestimated ourselves in this regard," said Colson.
Facebook votes or "appeal to audience" was only 25% of the judging criteria. The contest also looked at originality of the video, creativity and video production quality. Clara Barton is very thankful for the help of Scott Glassman, Clara Barton Hospital’s IT Director, Tim Woodcock and the video production students at USD 431, and Dr. Dan Witt for their help with the video production. We are also very thankful for everyone who voted for the video.
"The Pink Glove Contest offered us an organized way to come together as staff and a community in the spirit of cooperation to bring to the forefront the seriousness of breast cancer," explains Colson. "Participating in the contest helped us to educate and to bring awareness on the need for mammograms and early detection. Like the lyrics in the song "Firework" by Katy Perry, "you just gotta ignite the light and let it shine". We are proud of our efforts to "illuminate", to pull together in the cause against Breast Cancer."
With more than half a million votes in and counted, Medline, which manufactures gloves, announced that Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, S.C., won first place with 61,054 votes and $10,000 prize. A very close second place was captured by Highland Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., with almost 58,000 votes and $5,000 prize, followed by Victoria Hospital, Prince Albert Parkland Health Region in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, who took home third place honors with more than 38,000 votes and $2,000 prize. Prize monies went to their breast cancer charity of choice.
More than 120 staff members at Clara Barton starred in the Pink Glove Dance video. The video also starred community members and breast cancer survivors. In all, the contest brought together more than 17,000 people featured in the videos. If you missed viewing Clara Barton Hospital and Clinic video, it is available for viewing at www.pinkglovedance.com.
Clara Barton Hospital is a 23-bed critical access hospital serving rural Barton County. All 23 beds are Medicare certified acute care beds and are certified for participation as swing beds. Clara Barton Hospital also manages Clara Barton Medical Clinic and Russell Family Medical Care, which are designated Rural Health Clinics that provide primary care to over two thousand patients each month. The primary mission is: Clara Barton Hospital and its affiliates are dedicated to meeting the health care needs and improving the quality of life for the community they serve.
