Former President Bill Clinton is recovering after days of treatment for an infection, according to a spokesman. The infection is non-COVID-related. The 75-year-old was admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center on Tuesday evening, Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said on Twitter.
“He is on the mend, in good spirits, and incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him with excellent care,” Ureña wrote.
Ureña released two statements Thursday night: one from himself and one from the doctors treating former President Clinton.
Clinton went to the hospital after feeling fatigued and was diagnosed with an infection of the bloodstream that doctors believe started as a urinary tract infection, CNN reported, citing his doctors.
According to a joint statement from Drs. Alpesh Amin and Lisa Bardack, Clinton was “admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and administered IV antibiotics and fluids”. The doctors said Clinton has been responding to the antibiotics well, and his white blood cell count is “trending down” after two days of treatment.
“The California-based medical team has been in constant communication with the president’s New York-based medical team, including his cardiologist,” the doctors said. “We hope to have him go home soon.”
A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said the former president was in the Los Angeles area for private events related to his charitable organization when he was hospitalized. The UCI Medical Center is in Orange County, about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
This is not the former president’s first health scare since leaving office. In 2004, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery after experiencing prolonged chest pains and shortness of breath. He returned to the hospital for surgery for a partially collapsed lung in 2005. In 2010, he had a pair of stents implanted in a coronary artery.
The health scares did not prevent Clinton from hitting the campaign trail, most notably for his wife, Hillary. He stumped for her in both her failed bid to become the Democratic nominee in the 2008 presidential election, as well as her 2016 presidential election loss.
