HOUSTON (AP) - The Latest on the hospitalization of former President George H.W. Bush (all times local):
4:45 p.m.
Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, will remain hospitalized overnight at Houston’s Methodist Hospital.
Bush spokesman Jim McGrath says physicians initially believed the 92-year-old former president would be released later this week following several days of treatment for respiratory issues related to pneumonia, but his stay has been extended after doctors performed a procedure Wednesday to help clear his airway. He then was moved to intensive care. There is no timetable for his release. He was taken to the hospital over the weekend.
Barbara Bush decided to go to the hospital Wednesday after not feeling well in recent weeks. McGrath says doctors want to see how the former first lady responds to treatment before allowing her to return home.
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3:20 p.m.
Former President George W. Bush still plans to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this week even though his father and mother are hospitalized in Houston.
Freddy Ford is a spokesman for the younger Bush in Dallas. He said Wednesday that the 43rd president expects to be in Washington on Friday and doesn’t plan to travel to Houston.
Bush’s 92-year-old father, former President George H.W. Bush, was hospitalized for respiratory issues over the weekend. Barbara Bush was hospitalized as a precaution Wednesday for fatigue and coughing.
Last week, George H.W. Bush cited health concerns when announcing he couldn’t attend the inauguration. In a letter to Trump, Bush said his doctor told him that if he sat outside in January, “it likely will put me six-feet under. … Same for Barbara. So I guess we’re stuck in Texas.”
But he offered Trump help, if needed, and wished him “the very best as you begin this incredible journey of leading our great country.”
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12:55 p.m.
George H.W. Bush’s spokesman says doctors are happy with how a procedure went to help clear the former president’s airway following his hospitalization for respiratory issues.
Family spokesman Jim McGrath tells The Associated Press that doctors were monitoring the 92-year-old former president on Wednesday to see how his body responds. But he says he doesn’t think “there’s a whole lot of money to be gained betting against George Bush.”
McGrath says former first lady Barbara Bush decided to go to the same Houston hospital Wednesday morning. He says she hadn’t been feeling well for about two weeks and decided to “take it out of committee and have experts check it out.”
McGrath says the move was precautionary and “it’s nothing acute, just a gradual not feeling well.”
The Bushes recently celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary.
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12:25 p.m.
A spokesman for former President George H.W. Bush says Bush has been admitted to the intensive care unit at Houston’s Methodist Hospital to address a respiratory problem from pneumonia.
Spokesman Jim McGrath says Bush’s wife, Barbara Bush, also has been hospitalized as a precaution after experiencing fatigue and coughing.
McGrath says the 92-year-old former president was placed under sedation for a procedure to protect and clear his airway. He is stable and resting comfortably. He has been in the hospital since Saturday.
Barbara Bush is 91. The couple marked their 72nd wedding anniversary on Jan. 6.
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5:20 a.m.
A spokesman for former President George H.W. Bush says the 92-year-old was taken to the hospital over the weekend for shortness of breath.
Spokesman Jim McGrath says in an email to The Associated Press that Bush has responded well to treatments and that doctors are pleased with his progress. McGrath says the oldest living U.S. president was taken to the hospital on Saturday and he hopes that he can go home soon.
Bush served as U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. He has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility.
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2:20 a.m.
Houston-area media are quoting former President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff as saying that Bush has been hospitalized in Houston.
The Houston Chronicle and KHOU-TV reported early Wednesday that Bush chief of staff Jean Becker says the 41st president was recently admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital after becoming ill. Becker did not specify the reason the 92-year-old was hospitalized. Both media outlets say his office expects him to go home in a couple of days.
Becker did not immediately return email or telephone calls to her office from The Associated Press.
Bush was hospitalized in Maine in 2015 after falling at his summer home and breaking a bone in his neck.
He served as US president from 1989 to 1993.
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