By Dartunorro Clark and Monica Alba -
NBC News
Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized in California on Tuesday night, his spokesman Angel Ureña said Thursday.
He assured that the disease is an
infection not related to COVID-19.
"On Tuesday night, President Clinton was admitted to the UCI Medical Center for treatment for an infection not related to COVID-19," it said in a statement.
“
He is recovering, he is in a good mood
and he is incredibly grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff who provide him with excellent care,” he added.
Clinton's doctors also issued a statement.
“He was admitted to the hospital for close monitoring and was given intravenous antibiotics and fluids.
He remains in the hospital for continuous monitoring.
After two days of treatment, her white blood cell count is dropping and she is responding well to antibiotics, ”said Drs. Alpesh Amin and Lisa Bardack in the joint statement.
Former President Bill Clinton attends a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network in San Juan, Puerto Rico, February 18, 2020. Ricardo Arduengo / REUTERS
“The California-based medical team has been in constant communication with the President's New York-based medical team, including his cardiologist.
We hope that he will go home soon, ”they added.
[Bill Clinton publishes his first novel: "The President Has Disappeared"]
A source close to Clinton said Thursday that he is in intensive care "as a precautionary measure."
The hospital needed to isolate him and not because his care required it, the source said.
The
original infection was diagnosed as urological
, but then it grew, he added.
Clinton, 75, also has a history of heart problems.
Hillary and Bill Clinton pay tribute to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court
Sept.
23,202000: 27
In 2004, Clinton underwent a quadruple bypass operation at New York Presbyterian Hospital to redirect her blood supply and avoid four severely clogged arteries, The New York Times reported at the time.
Clinton complained of chest pains and shortness of breath.
A team of surgeons then discovered extensive signs of heart disease, with
blockages in some
of Clinton's
arteries
exceeding 90%, the newspaper reported.
Clinton returned to Presbyterian Hospital in 2010 for another heart procedure, this time to insert two stents (small metal mesh tubes) into a coronary artery.
