New surgical tower at TGH will bear a familiar name in Tampa health care circles
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 15, 2024

Tampa General Hospital's new 13-story surgical tower will bear the name of Tampa's Taneja family after a $25 million gift toward the project.

TGH on Monday celebrated the groundbreaking of the tower, which will house surgical, neuroscience and transplant services when it opens in 2027. Jugal and Manju Taneja founded Belcher Pharmaceuticals together in 2010. The tower is named in honor of the Taneja Family Foundation's gift to the TGH Foundation.

In total, TGH says it has raised $120 million toward the surgical tower.

“We have lived the American dream, and now we want others to have that same chance at life,” Jugal Taneja said in a statement on behalf of himself, Manju and the family. “What better way to pay it forward than to give greater access to world-class care for those who need it most?”

The Taneja Family Foundation is active in health care philanthropy. In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the family donated to TGH and the University of South Florida's Morsani College of Medicine to support establishing the Global Emerging Diseases Institute. In 2019, the family gave USF Health $10 million, renaming the College of Pharmacy in their honor.

The Taneja Surgical, Neuroscience and Transplant Tower is under construction on the northern tip of TGH's Davis Islands campus. The tower is 565,000 square feet and adds 144 patient beds, 32 operating suites and additional capacity for the TGH intensive care unit. Tampa City Council approved a rezoning request to make way for the project in late 2023.

“There are no bounds to the generosity of the Taneja family,” Frann Leppla, vice president and chief philanthropy officer of the TGH Foundation, said in a statement. “By naming the new tower in their honor, we’re celebrating their passion for innovation, their impact on our community and the exceptional care we offer at Tampa General. I know the Tanejas will serve as a source of hope and inspiration for many who walk through the future doors of the Taneja Surgical, Neuroscience & Transplant Tower.”

The Taneja tower is part of TGH's $550 million master facility plan, which it unveiled in 2021. TGH CEO John Couris envisions the Davis Islands campus as the crown jewel of a statewide academic medical center; TGH spent much of 2023 cherry-picking hospitals to acquire.

“Patients come to Tampa General for world-class care, and the addition of this new tower on our campus, thanks in part to the generosity of the Taneja family, enhances our ability to deliver the highest level of academic-based medicine,” Couris said in a statement.

The Taneja gift follows another historic donation to a Tampa Bay health system: Clearwater-based BayCare Health System Inc. announced on April 10 a $50 million gift from the Pagidipati family. BayCare is building a new children's hospital in Tampa. When it opens in 2030, the facility will be named Pagidipati Children’s Hospital, replacing St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.