During the Depression in the early 1930s, the Elks of Florida began to provide financial assistance to needy children with orthopedic conditions. Harry and Anna Miller subsequently donated their land and hotel to this mission. This hotel was in a rural setting approximately 35 miles from downtown Orlando.
At that time, many children required long-term hospitalization for the care of polio or tuberculosis. Other children required prolonged bed rest or traction for a variety of orthopedic conditions. The hotel served this purpose well and was converted into a pediatric rehabilitation hospital (Harry-Anna Home for Crippled Children) to meet this need. When surgery was required, those services were purchased from Orange Memorial Hospital in Orlando. Children were transported to and from the Orlando hospital because surgery constituted a short interval of time in the total care of orthopedic conditions.
In the early 1970s, the hotel needed to be replaced with a more modern facility. Consultants recommended moving the new facility closer to a major medical center due to the increasing complexity of medical care and projected shorter stays for a number of orthopedic conditions but the Elks of Florida decided to rebuild on the same site and a new hospital (Florida Elks Children’s Hospital) was opened in July 1977.
During the twenty years between 1977 and 1997, the projections of the consultants became reality. Hospital lengths of stay for orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation decreased substantially. Families were no longer willing to be separated from their children for long periods of time. Advances in healthcare reduced the need for inpatient care. Imaging techniques and other technological advances in surgical care increased the expenses of highly intense short term hospitalization. Thus, the financial burden of care increased while length of stay decreased for patients at the Florida Elks Children’s Hospital. The inpatient census decreased dramatically in spite of rising numbers of outpatient visits and surgery.
The hospital attempted to attract more patients who required long-term hospitalization by establishing a head injury rehabilitation service and an inpatient diabetes management program. However, it became apparent that rapid patient deterioration could occur from unexpected seizures or fluctuations in blood sugar. The lack of proximity to a major medical center made it impossible to provide complete services for the patients who needed prolonged hospitalization for these conditions.
After much consideration, the Board of Directors of the Florida State Elks Association, Inc. recommended that the Elks redirect their efforts away from inpatient services in order to focus on more needed outpatient programs to serve more children. At the Mid-year Convention in November 1998, the decision was made to close the Florida Elks Children’s Hospital after over half a century of providing inpatient pediatric orthopedic care. As sad as it was, the Elks knew that financially it was not feasible to keep the hospital running. There were times when the 100-bed hospital had as few as 12 patients, yet costs for staff, maintenance, and operations continued.
We have adapted just fine though! As the FECTS motto goes, we are “rolling with the times!” The Elks’ main mission is always to help as many people as possible, and that is what we have done with this replacement program for the hospital. So many more children can receive therapy services than what it was possible for us to provide in the hospital. Please click HERE for a summary of patient total comparisons for the hospital and the FECTS program. Florida Elks have truly embraced Florida Elks Children’s Therapy Services and we are so proud of the staff and the generous donors who keep it operating.
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