Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized in California this week after a urinary tract infection spread to his bloodstream, according to his doctors.
The 42nd commander-in-chief was taken to University of California Irvine Medical Center on Tuesday for “close monitoring” and given IV antibiotics and fluids, according to a joint statement from Dr. Alpesh Amin and Dr. Lisa Bardack.
The 75-year-old ex-president had been in California for an event for his foundation when he started feeling unwell and fatigued that day, his doctors and staff told CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta.
He went to the hospital for testing, which ruled out COVID-19 as well as heart-related problems that have troubled him since he had quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, Gupta said.
Instead, he was found to have a urologic infection, which is common in older people but can be dangerous if it spreads, Gupta said.
“What they think is going on with the former president now is a blood infection. Sometimes known as sepsis,” Gupta told viewers late Thursday.
Sepsis is “the body’s extreme response to an infection” and can be a “life-threatening medical emergency,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns.
Clinton’s spokesman, Angel Urena, confirmed he was being treated “for a non-COVID-19 infection,” saying he is “on the mend” and “in good spirits.”
“After two days of treatment, his white-blood-cell count is trending down and he is responding to antibiotics well,” Clinton’s physicians said.
“He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring,” the statement said.
He was treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit more for privacy and safety rather than needing intensive care, his doctors and staff told CNN.
Soon after the news broke Thursday, Clinton’s 73-year-old wife, Hillary, was photographed making a late-night visit to the hospital.
She looked somber and stood at times looking down with her hands clasped as she was flanked by security as well as her longtime assistant Huma Abedin.
The former secretary of state had not been in California when her husband was hospitalized, but flew there Thursday — attending a foundation event that her husband had been forced to miss, the Los Angeles Times said.
Gupta said Bill Clinton is in good spirits, talking to family and staff, and has been up and walking — suggesting that the former president could leave the hospital as early as Friday.
A source close to the situation also told Fox News that Clinton was “up and about, joking and charming the hospital staff.”
“As you can see in his statement from his doctors, the prognosis is good and they hope to have him home soon,” the source said.
Clinton served as president from 1993 to 2001.
Since leaving the White House, the former president has faced several other health scares.
In 2004, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery in New York City at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital after experiencing prolonged chest pains and shortness of breath.
During the bypass, the surgeons took two veins from Clinton’s chest and one from his leg and attached them to arteries serving the heart.
Ahead of the 2004 surgery, Clinton was taking medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
A year later, Clinton returned to the hospital for surgery for a partially collapsed lung.
In 2010, the ex-president had a pair of stents implanted in a coronary artery.
CNN stressed that Clinton’s current hospital stay is not related to his heart issues.
Following the health episodes, Clinton embraced a largely vegan diet that saw him lose weight and report improved health.
He returned to the campaign trail ahead of the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections to support his wife’s failed White House bids.
As recently as last month, Clinton was about town in the Big Apple.
He was spotted on Sept. 23 attending a bash hosted by Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader at the rooftop bar of ModernHaus Soho, sources had told The Post.
The party took place the same week as the UN General Assembly.
With Post wires
