Ex-President George HW Bush was hospitalized after Super Bowl coin toss

ByGILLIAN MOHNEY ABCNews logo
Friday, April 21, 2017

Former President George H.W. Bush's spokesman today disclosed that Bush was hospitalized after the Super Bowl earlier this year, making his most recent hospitalization the third since the start of the year.

Bush, who was hospitalized in January for 12 days after contracting pneumonia, had recovered enough to toss the coin for the Super Bowl held in Houston, Texas, Feb. 5. The former president was then hospitalized after the event, which was not disclosed at the time.

His staff did not announce that hospitalization until today, without clarifying why Bush, 92, needed medical attention.

The former president's January case of pneumonia was severe enough to require ventilation in the intensive care unit to help him recover. He and his wife, Barbara Bush, who was hospitalized around the same time for bronchitis, missed President Trump's inauguration because of the illness.

More recently, his staff announced that he was hospitalized last Friday "for observation due to a persistent cough that prevented him from getting proper rest. It was subsequently determined he had a mild case of pneumonia, which was treated and has been resolved."

He tweeted a picture of himself at the hospital Thursday joined by his son former President George W. Bush.

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath today said doctors expect to keep the former president in the hospital through the weekend to "ensure a fully clean bill of health."

ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this article.

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