Harold Rutenberg, MD, former chief of the cardiology division at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, has died at 89, according to a June 6 report from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Dr. Rutenberg died May 14 of age-associated decline, according to the report. For 61 years, he served thousands of patients as a cardiologist and adviser.
He also taught at medical schools including the University of Pennsylvania and Temple and Thomas Jefferson universities, all based in Philadelphia, and was affiliated for decades with Pennsylvania, Temple, Jefferson and Wills Eye hospitals, all of which are in the city.
He directed Temple Hospital's cardiac clinic from 1971 to 1975 and served as chief of cardiology at Pennsylvania Hospital from 1975 to 1981.
He "helped usher our cardiology division into the modern era," Howard Haber, MD, director of Pennsylvania Hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory, said in a tribute. "He was the consummate physician."
He specialized in coronary artery disease, chronic high blood pressure and cardiomyopathy, the report said.