An Enduring Impact
On a sunny day in late October 2023, Paula Bazar-Sandling walked through the doors of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and was flooded with feelings of nostalgia—but also surprised by how much had changed since the last time she had been there almost 40 years earlier.
“I was astounded by the size of the campus and how much it had grown,” she says. “When we got off the elevator, it just felt so special and brought back a lot of memories.”
During the 1980s, Bazar-Sandling was a nurse in the hospital’s medical-surgery floor, where she cared for children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer, cystic fibrosis and other complex conditions.
Today, she serves as Chairman of the Board of the Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation and is proud to be able to support the hospital that played a formative role in her early nursing career.
The Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation began donating to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2018 and recently made a very generous gift. In total, the foundation has given nearly $6 million to CHLA.
“Supporting CHLA through our family foundation is how I can reach patients in a different way,” Bazar-Sandling says.
The Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation was named after and established by Bazar-Sandling’s mother in 2016 and supports various organizations in health care, aviation and education. Until her death at the age of 98, Mary Elizabeth—or Betty as she preferred to be called—was President and CEO of Sensor Systems Inc., an antenna company she founded with her first husband that today is a major supplier for commercial and corporate aircraft.
Bazar-Sandling resigned from her career as a nurse in 1987 to work for the family business, but CHLA and the children she cared for were never far from her mind. As the foundation began making philanthropic investments, she approached her mother with a heartfelt request: to direct some of the funds to her former workplace.
“I knew it was a very worthy cause and there was a need,” she says. “So that’s why Children’s Hospital was my pick.”
A lifelong effect
Susan Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation and Betty’s grandniece, is committed to supporting the hospital—and is moved by the institution’s dedication to caring for all the children in the community.
“We are thrilled to make an impact with CHLA in any way that we can,” she says.
Philanthropic partners have always been key to CHLA’s success, allowing the institution to invest in everything from team members to state-of-the-art equipment, research and medical training.
“CHLA provides world-class treatment to every patient, regardless of their financial situation, while pursuing scientific discovery and educating future specialists,” says Paul S. Viviano, President and Chief Executive Officer of CHLA. “Philanthropy helps sustain these efforts and is fundamental to the work performed every day by our team members.”
Alexandra Carter, Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer at CHLA, adds that having a former team member support CHLA speaks to the hospital’s enduring impact.
“We are able to achieve so much together with donors like the Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation,” she says. “It’s especially meaningful that someone who has provided and seen firsthand the incredible care at CHLA is giving back. The people who work at CHLA are absolutely core to our mission.”
‘An absolute force’
In honor of the foundation’s philanthropic partnership, the 5 East Wing of the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion at CHLA has been named the Betty Bazar East Wing. The late entrepreneur—who supported various causes during her lifetime—never sought attention for her philanthropy, but her family is glad her generosity is being recognized.
“My mother is probably looking down going, ‘What are you doing?’” Bazar-Sandling says with a laugh. “She didn’t want plaques or her name on a wall, but now I think she would be happy and proud that we did this—that she did this—because it’s her money we’re giving away. She was a very good businesswoman.”
Born in 1923, Betty grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. Together with her high school sweetheart, Harvey Paul Bazar, they founded Sensor Systems Inc. in 1961. When Harvey passed away four years later, Betty took over as President and CEO of the company, which prospered under her leadership and became a global force in the aviation industry with more than 200 employees.
“Betty was maybe 5 feet tall, but she was an absolute force to be reckoned with,” says Baker. “I remember going to a trade show with her. It was a very male-centric environment with all these very big heavy hitters. We went around the room, and she knew everyone. She had their ears, and they all wanted to hear what she had to say. It didn’t occur to her that she wasn’t one of the guys. She belonged.”
While aviation was Betty’s passion, nothing was more important to her than family. She was the mom who cheered on the sidelines at baseball games and sold candy for the team. “She was always there for us,” Bazar-Sandling recalls. “She would give the shirt off her back if it came to that.”
Coming back around
On the day when Bazar-Sandling toured CHLA, she couldn’t help but notice how unrecognizable the building was. The footprint was drastically larger from four decades earlier. Computers and high-tech equipment filled the units. The walls were more colorful, and the atmosphere was bright and airy.
What hadn’t changed was the sense of community and deep caring that continued to exude throughout the hospital. It transported Bazar-Sandling right back to her time as a professional caregiver.
“I really enjoyed working at Children’s Hospital because of the people who worked there, the support team who helped you and the kids who needed you,” Bazar-Sandling says. “I’m too old now to work as a nurse, but being one then was the best part of my whole career. This is my way to come back around—by donating. I feel really lucky my family and I get to do this.”
Paula Bazar-Sandling Remembers CHLA: In Her Own Words
Before joining her family’s company, Sensor Systems Inc., and the Mary E. Bazar-Robin Foundation, Paula Bazar-Sandling was a nurse at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles from 1981 to 1987. Here, in her own words, she reflects on her time as a frontline caregiver, the bond she shared with her young patients and the camaraderie among colleagues that has left a memorable mark on her life:
I was a floor nurse, and that’s what I really liked: being one-on-one with patients. Some people told me, “I don’t see how you can work with kids.” But I liked kids. You can be honest, frank, and give them a head start and get them through this terrible situation that they’re in. You weren’t just the nurse. You had to be their friend, too.
In nursing school, we were warned not to get too close to our patients. But then a physician once told me, “If you don’t get involved, you’re not going to give them everything they need.” And I took that to heart. We just had a closeness with our patients. We were their advocates.
If you think of people who have the strongest bond, it’s those in the military fighting wars. Nursing is similar. We have to work together to help people in need. We lost patients early on because there were not a lot of treatment options for cancer back then. Fortunately, a lot has changed because of science. But as nurses, we experience hard things. There’s a bond because of what we do.
What was most memorable about my time at Children’s Hospital were my colleagues. It was an honor to work with people who had the same vision and care.
Looking back, I’m very proud of my early career and had great experiences as a nurse, which is why I got my mother and the foundation involved. It’s how we were brought up: We care about other people, and donating is a natural thing for us. It just makes you feel good that you’re helping.
