Banner Good Samaritan named LIVESTRONG Community winner

PHOENIX (Nov. 8, 2010) — Today, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center was announced as a LIVESTRONG® Community Impact Project award recipient.

The project, created by LIVESTRONG, the organization founded by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong to serve people affected by cancer and empower them to take action, will bring proven cancer support programs to 55 communities across the United States.

“We are thrilled and honored to be named as a Community Impact Project award recipient,” said Tracy Leonard-Warner, music therapy coordinator for Banner Good Samaritan. “This award will go a long way in helping people in our community who are affected by cancer. We want to give special thanks to everyone who voted in support of this program. Together, we’re making a difference in the lives of cancer survivors and their families.”

One hundred seventy-nine qualified hospitals, cancer centers and community organizations in eight regions across the United States were selected to participate in an online voting campaign. Over a two-week period, more than 260,000 votes were cast and Banner Good Samaritan was among the finalists. The hospital will use the $16,000 award to bring artists to the bedside of cancer and bone marrow transplant patients.

The Creative Center’s Artists-in-Residence program offers patients the opportunity to learn about and become absorbed in their own creative resources as they meet the challenges of diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. The program will work bedside and in small group settings with men, women and children – in oncology units, bone marrow transplant units, intensive care/respiratory units, hospice and palliative care programs.

About Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
Located in downtown Phoenix, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care since 1911, and is the flagship hospital within Banner Health. Banner Good Samaritan is recognized as a Magnet™ hospital for nursing excellence and is ranked as one of America’s “Best Hospitals” by U.S.News & World Report. Today, more than 4,200 nurses and Banner Good Samaritan staff members work with more than 1,700 physicians representing nearly 50 specialties to provide care to more than 43,000 inpatients each year.

CONTACT: 
Rainey Holloway
Rebecca Armendariz
Ph: (602) 839-4411
Pgr: (602) 250-0383