Betsy and Ted Merchant, MD

President’s Circle

Betsy and

Ted Merchant, MD

Lifelong connections.

Huntington Hospital has given so much to our fami- “ ly,” says Ted Merchant, MD. “We’re grateful to have it — and blessed that we’re in a position where we can support its work.” Indeed, Dr. Merchant and his wife, Betsy, have been regular donors for many years — and their family’s story is deeply intertwined with our own. In fact, it began before either of them was born. Dr. Merchant’s father was an internist and one of our affiliated physicians for more than 45 years. “I have fond memories of waiting at the hospital while my dad did his rounds,” he recalls. Both Dr.

Merchant and Betsy were also born here, thus planting the seed of connection that would continue to grow throughout their lives. Taking after his father, Dr. Merchant also chose a career in medicine. He was an obstetrician-gynecologist and an affiliated physician here for more than three decades. Of the approximately 7,000 babies he delivered during his medical career, “I’m proud to say that about 6,000 of those were at Huntington Hospital,” he says. The couple’s relationship with the hospital blossomed as they became members of the President’s Circle of Huntington Hospital — a group of donors who provide particularly generous annual gifts in support of our work — at the Medicus Society level. “We support

the things that inspire us,” Dr. Merchant says, “and the hospital has been especially meaningful to us.”

Neighboring roots.

The couple’s connection to our community also reaches beyond the hospital — and spans generations. Betsy’s great-grandfather was a Pasadenian, as was Dr. Merchant’s. “Our grandparents lived very close to each other,” says Betsy. “We’ve often wondered if they might have known each other.”

These roots in the community run deep. Although the Merchants have travelled to other parts of the United States and now live in La Cañada Flintridge, they still consider themselves Pasadenians. “We’re proud of the roots we both have in Pasadena,” says Dr. Merchant. In fact, one of the reasons the couple supports our work is our own connection to the community: “Huntington Hospital is the iconic hospital in the San Gabriel Valley,” Dr. Merchant says.

While he grew up in Pasadena, Dr. Merchant travelled to the east coast to get his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He later chose to return to Pasadena to establish his private practice, which he ran from 1973 until his retirement in 2013.

Betsy also grew up here, and while in high school, performed volunteer work at the hospital. Like her husband, she briefly left California to attend college in Oregon — later returning to receive her teaching credential and master’s degree at University of Southern California. She taught kindergarten at Polytechnic School, later leaving to raise a family.

Betsy returned to the classroom after the children were grown, and officially retired

“Huntington Hospital is the iconic hospital in the San Gabriel Valley.”

in 2008. “I loved teaching and having the opportunity to teach some of the children that Ted helped bring into the world,” she notes. Many of these children were of course born at Huntington Hospital.

Inspired by family, bound by community.

For the Merchants, it always comes back to family and community — especially in their philanthropy. The couple, inspired by a family member with autism, recently established a nonprofit organization, Villa de Vida, which serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are capable of independent living. Dr. Merchant serves as the organization’s chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors.

The Merchants’ generosity extends to their support of the hospital, which, as Betsy says, “has always been a meaningful resource for Pasadena and the entire San Gabriel Valley.”

The family has experienced this resource firsthand. Two of the couple’s three children were born here. Their daughter, Molly, was nine weeks premature and spent time in our neonatal intensive care unit. Their son Ken was hospitalized as a toddler after he came down with an intestinal flu. Over the years, other members of the family have also received care here.

Dr. Merchant notes that the couple chooses to support our work through unrestricted gifts. “The hospital is best equipped to determine its own needs,” he says. “Its overall performance has been outstanding, and we want it to be able to continue its important work, long into the future.”