Former President Bill Clinton Is 'On the Mend' After Hospitalization

Bill Clinton was admitted to a California ICU for monitoring after coming down with an infection — get the details

Former President Bill Clinton On the Mend After Being Hospitalized for an Infection 2 — Bill Clinton Shutterstock

Former president Bill Clinton was rushed to a local ICU in California after coming down with an infection — but it wasn’t a case of the coronavirus.

The 75-year-old politician was admitted to the University of California Irvine Medical Center on Tuesday, October 12. Two days later, his spokesperson, Angel Ureña, gave an update on Clinton’s progress.

“He is on the mend, in good spirits and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him with excellent care,” read a statement shared via Twitter on Thursday, October 14, noting that the former Arkansas governor was receiving “treatment for a non-COVID-related infection.”

Dr. Alpesh Amin, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the UC Irvine and director of Hospital Medicine for UCI Health, and Clinton’s primary physician, Dr. Lisa Bardack, provided further information about the attorney’s condition in a joint statement of their own.

“President Clinton was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center and diagnosed with an infection. He was admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and administered IV antibiotics and fluids,” the health experts said on Thursday. “He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring.”

Former President Bill Clinton On the Mend After Being Hospitalized for an Infection — Bill Clinton PPE/Hildebrandt/Sipa/Shutterstock

Following two days of care, Clinton was “responding to antibiotics well” and already making significant improvements. “The California-based medical team has been in constant communication with the President’s New York-based medical team, including his cardiologist,” the doctors explained. “We hope to have him go home soon.”

The Yale University alum previously underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2004 and was treated for a collapsed lung the following year. In 2010, he had two stents inserted in order to restore blood flow to a coronary artery. At the time, one of Clinton’s doctors told CNN that the procedure was “part of the natural history” of patients who’ve received bypass surgery and had nothing to do with Clinton’s diet or exercise patterns.

Ahead of his recent hospital stay, Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, were scheduled to attend a private event in California on Thursday for the Clinton Foundation. According to NBC News, the former secretary of state, 73, made an appearance at the event before returning to her husband’s side as he recovers.

The couple tied the knot in 1975 and share daughter Chelsea Clinton, who wed banker Marc Mezvinsky in 2010. Bill and Hillary’s three grandchildren — Charlotte, Aidan and Jasper — arrived in 2014, 2016 and 2019, respectively.

The 42nd president was in the Oval Office from 1993 to 2001. During his second term, he was acquitted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice following a lengthy impeachment trial regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky. The scandal is currently the focus of FX’s third season of the American Crime Story anthology.