Early in her marriage to Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier, Amy Baier hoped to find a philanthropic cause they could champion together. She had no idea that their firstborn son, Paul, would be the catalyst for the difference she hoped to make. Paul, who is now 17, was born with five congenital heart defects, and he required open-heart surgery when he was just 12 days old.
“The doctors [at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.] said, ‘We’re going to try to save your son’s life, but we can’t guarantee it,’” she recalls. “When he made it through his first surgery, there was not enough gratitude in the world to thank the doctors, nurses, and surgeons who saved his life. From that day on, we were dedicated to doing what we could for Children’s National.”
Since then, the Baiers have raised more than $36 million for Children’s National Hospital. Amy has served as chairperson of the hospital’s foundation board for five years and has been a board member for 15 years; she has also served on the National Committee for Performing Arts board at the Kennedy Center and has worked with the National Museum of Women in the Arts, to include co-chairing the organization’s gala and taking part in their national campaign. Now that the family has relocated to Palm Beach (with sons Paul and Daniel attending school here, and Bret commuting to D.C. each week for work), Amy says she is “tiptoeing into the charities here” by co-chairing the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society’s 2025 gala and vice-chairing the 2025 Heart Ball for the American Heart Association.
“Amy’s involvement with Children’s National has been transformational,” says DeAnn Marshall, president of the Children’s National Hospital Foundation. “When I think about her getting involved in Palm Beach philanthropy, I think she will transform that marketplace and bring a level of excellence that hasn’t been seen before and a different perspective.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Amy grew up visiting Naples, Florida, with her parents and three brothers. She and Bret bought a second home there 15 years ago. It was during the earliest part of Paul’s medical struggles, at a time when the Baiers began throwing their hearts and souls into raising money for Children’s National Hospital’s annual gala. Bret has emceed the event for 15 years, and Amy says she has chaired it at least eight times.
“I think when you have a story and you’re passionate about it, it’s easier to get people to participate and understand what the hospital needs,” Amy says. “So, the fundraising came naturally to us because we could articulate what we had experienced to others.”
They decided not to limit their fundraising for Children’s National Hospital to the D.C. area. Bret devised a fundraising dinner in Naples where multiple Fox anchors would talk about what was going on inside the Beltway, with all the proceeds benefiting Children’s National. Marshall says she had never seen anything like it; the event sold out within days.
“None of these people were familiar with Children’s National or its community, but they wanted to support Bret and Amy,” Marshall says.
Amy says they raised half a million dollars at first, then $800,000. The most recent fundraiser in Naples brought in nearly $1.6 million, she recounts.
“In our own little way, we are doing what we can to move the needle,” she adds.
Though the funds they’ve raised through their events in Washington and Naples have gone straight to the hospital, the Baiers themselves have funded a professorship there, donated waiting rooms, and funded a media room where doctors can communicate with surgeons anywhere in the world about how to best help a young cardiac patient. Each Christmas, the Baiers bring gifts to young patients in the cardiac intensive care unit.
“Amy is a force in the best way possible,” Marshall says. “When she puts her mind to something, there’s no stopping her, whether it’s a fundraising goal, a gala theme, or a big idea. She gets behind every detail and makes sure every guest is attended to and enjoying themselves.”
Though the Baiers have long-standing ties to Naples, they began detouring to Palm Beach to visit friends. Amy says that when it was time to return to Washington, D.C., they’d imagine what it would be like if they lived in Palm Beach.
“We just absolutely loved coming to visit, and the kids were making more friends,” she says. “And so, on a whim, I said, ‘If I can get the kids into school, should we try it for a year?’ We had just spent four years building a house in Washington, D.C., so this concept of leaving was a little crazy. But I got them into school. My oldest was very excited about it, but my youngest did not want to come at first. Now I’d say that my kids are very happy here.”
In the meantime, Amy believes that Florida has been good for her family because they’re spending more time outside playing golf (or tennis, in Amy’s case), riding bikes, and going for walks together.
“Whether they want to or not, I try to have [my sons] go for walks with me,” she says. “There’s something about being side by side in nature where they kind of open up to me about a lot of things. That has been a blessing.”
Another blessing: Paul made it through his fifth open-heart surgery this past spring.
“He had a cold, and we took him to the doctor here,” Amy recalls, adding that the doctor decided to X-ray Paul’s lungs because of his history of cardiac issues. The doctor saw what she thought was tissue on his lung. They were about to return to Washington anyway and would be meeting with Paul’s cardiac team there for a six-month checkup. Those doctors found a golf ball–sized aneurysm that was about to rupture and scheduled open heart surgery for early the next morning.
“Without a doubt, guardian angels and divine intervention saved his life,” Amy says. “Raising Paul has been one of our greatest gifts. I think he’s taught us more than we’ve even taught him. And he’s definitely put our lives into perspective. I think when you come close to creating the life and then almost losing that life, it changes your perspective, and you learn the fragility of life and how precious that is. And when we first found out [about his health], we were kind of like, ‘Why is this happening?’ But then we looked at each other and said that moving forward we would only be grateful for every day we have with Paul. Our family focuses on gratitude and how grateful we are for even the littlest things.”
Amy says she knows how blessed she and her brood are, and when you focus on the positive, it makes it easier to get through seemingly challenging times. Without question, they have faced their share of hardships together. Paul has not only endured five open-heart surgeries, but a stomach surgery and 11 angioplasties too.
“It used to be that every six months, we were doing something,” she says. “But as a family, we always rally when needed.”
The Baiers also make sure that their younger son, Daniel, isn’t neglected when times get tough.
“You don’t want the spotlight to always be on the child who has the medical needs,” she says. “We’ve always tried to balance that, but it’s challenging. Bret has a very busy job. He can be at a surgery, but he can’t go to doctors’ appointments. So, you just do what you can to make it work. We’re a family with a lot of faith, and I think that has helped.”
Paul is doing better since his most recent surgery and has started getting back onto the links to work on his golf swing again.
“Paul has the best attitude,” she says. “I’ve watched him have surgery many times. I think as a teenager, it has been more challenging, but he handles it all with such a great attitude. We all have something we’re struggling with in life, but when you face those challenges with optimism, it makes it a lot easier.”
Without question, Amy’s optimism will continue to bring a lot of change and hope to those who need it most.
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