The Florida State Elks Association has a long history of providing rehabilitation services to needy children of Florida. In 1933, the Association accepted the donation of a hotel in Umatilla, Florida and turned the facility into the Harry-Anna Home for Crippled Children. This unique facility offered free treatment to Florida children who suffered from orthopedic diseases and disabilities. Over the years, the name of the hospital changed several times and it occupied three different locations.
In succeeding years, the hospital operated continuously as a rehabilitative facility for orthopedic conditions and diseases in children. Through the years the bodies and lives of victims of polio, head trauma, birth defects, and accidents received the postoperative care that helped turn them into functioning and productive citizens. All this was done at no cost to the families. For more than 66 years, the hospital was among the finest rehabilitative facilities in the county and a source of great pride for Florida Elks.
However, times change and so did the Florida Elks. Due to major medical advances that meant extended hospital stays for rehabilitation were no longer necessary, and combined with changes in the health care delivery system, the hospital was forced to close its doors on February 26, 1999. Wanting to continue to serve children’s needs, a new program of in-home physical and occupational therapy began on March 1, 1999 named the Florida Elks Children’s Therapy Services. Covering most of Florida’s 67 counties, the program provides mobile in-home children's therapy services to more patients than what was ever possible with the hospital.