TGH Foundation Receives $4 Million Gift to Establish the David & Tara Ruberg HVI Innovation and Research Center of Excellence

The Center of Excellence will drive innovation and groundbreaking research within

the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute.

Tampa, FL (Feb. 4, 2025) – The Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Foundation has received a generous gift to establish the David & Tara Ruberg HVI Innovation and Research Center of Excellence.  

Tara Ruberg’s $4 million donation honors the memory of her late husband and advances the world-class care offered by the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute and Dr. Fadi Matar, the cardiologist who treated David Ruberg.  

“The David & Tara Ruberg HVI Innovation and Research Center of Excellence will help TGH continue its mission of groundbreaking innovation to provide world-class care,” said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. “The amazing generosity of Tara Ruberg is a reflection of the impact of the care and compassion of the team in the Institute.” 

Tara Ruberg said that she and David considered themselves to be “catalyst” givers and that David was the kind of leader who wanted to give people the tools to solve complex problems.

“This is our opportunity to take the hospital and the community to the next level,” she said. “The work of the doctors will implement what really matters here.”

As a couple, Tara and David Ruberg were committed to identifying causes that could be lifted with their support. They named their private foundation after both of their mothers, who inspired their altruism.

David Ruberg, who was a respected engineer and businessman, bonded with Matar, who specializes in cardiovascular disease and interventional cardiology and works in bioinnovation and 3D-printing. The donation could fund work on these efforts and in innovating catheter-based procedures. 

“We would like to thank Tara Ruberg for her extremely generous support of the TGH Heart & Vascular Institute," said Dr. Benjamin Mackie, vice president and co-chief of TGH Heart & Vascular Institute, medical director of HVI Heart Failure Center of Excellence and medical director of Heart Transplantation. “This is a transformational gift in recognition of her late husband David’s passion to innovate and drive clinical excellence. Her gift will drive the development of novel and innovative approaches to cardiovascular medicine. Her support is representative of the Rubergs’ longstanding dedication to our community and belief in our mission to provide world-class medical care to the Tampa Bay community and beyond.”

“We are so grateful for Tara Ruberg’s incredible gift honoring David Ruberg,” said Frann Leppla, executive vice president and chief philanthropy officer of the TGH Foundation. “It is a testament to his own legacy of innovation and means that his name will live on at TGH for decades to come.” 

U.S. News & World Report ranked Tampa General as one of the nation's top hospitals for cardiology, heart and vascular surgery and recognized the academic health system as “high performing” in heart attack, heart failure, stroke and transcatheter aortic valve replacement for 2024-2025. 

Additionally, Newsweek ranked Tampa General as one of America’s Best Cardiac Hospitals in 2024. It is the only hospital in the Tampa Bay region recognized by Becker's Hospital Review on its list of 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Heart Programs.

Tampa General was the first health system in Florida to offer a minimally invasive robotic procedure for mitral valve repair and utilizes state-of-the-art technological advancements such as 3D printing for planning aortic valve replacements, trauma surgery, cancer surgery and other reconstructions. As part of the region’s leading academic health system, Tampa General is also investigating breakthrough treatments and conducting clinical research to advance heart and vascular care in partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.