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Bill Clinton Leaves Hospital, Escorted By Hillary Clinton, And Gives ‘Thumbs-Up’ On How He’s Feeling

UPDATE, SUNDAY MORNING: Former President Bill Clinton has been released from the hospital.

Clinton left the facility arm-in-arm with his wife and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, greeting hospital staff as he exited and giving a thumbs-up when asked how he was feeling.

University of California Irvine Health Department of Medicine Executive Director Dr. Alpesh N. Amin, Clinton’s main treatment doctor, released a statement following Clinton’s release.

“President Clinton was discharged from UC Irvine Medical Center today. His fever and white blood cell count are normalized, and he will return home to New York to finish his course of antibiotics,” Amin wrote. “On behalf of everyone at UC Irvine Medical Center, we were honored to have treated him and will continue to monitor his progress.”

UPDATED throughout with latest: Former President Bill Clinton has been admitted to UCI Medical Center in Orange to receive treatment for a non-Covid related infection, his spokesman said on Thursday.

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On Friday, his spokesman told media outlets that the former president was “up and about.”

The 42nd president also received well-wishes from the 46th president today. “President Biden spoke by phone with President Clinton this afternoon,” White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “President Biden and President Clinton look forward to seeing each other again soon. President Biden wishes President Clinton a speedy recovery.”

Spokesman Angel Urena shad aid that Clinton was admitted on Tuesday evening. “He is on the mend, in good spirits, and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him with excellent care,” he said. CNN reported that Clinton had a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream, a condition known as sepsis. He had been in California for an event related to the Clinton Foundation, the network reported.

His physicians, Dr. Alpesh Amin and Dr. Lisa Bardack, released a statement in which they said that Clinton was diagnosed with the infection when taken to UCI Medical Center, and was admitted for close monitoring. He also was given antibiotics and fluids.

“He remains at the hospital for continuous monitoring,” they said, adding that after two days his white blood cell count was trending down “and he is responding to antibiotics well.”

They said that the California medical team was in “constant communication” with his New York-based medical team, including his cardiologist.

“We hope to have him home soon,” they said.

Clinton, 75, underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2004. He had two coronary stents implanted in 2010 after complaining of chest pains. He’s also been public about going on a strict, largely plant based diet.

On CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta said that he talked with Clinton’s doctors and that he was still in the ICU, but primarily for privacy reasons. His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also is in Southern California. She has been promoting her new novel, State of Terror, with Louise Penny.

Dr. David Agus, a professor of medicine at USC Keck School of Medicine and a CBS News medical contributor, told CBS News Friday morning he had spoken to Clinton’s doctors, who said the former president had been experiencing nausea and vomiting.

Agus said doctors told him Clinton was doing “dramatically better,” and could potentially be released from the hospital over the weekend.

City News Service and Tom Tapp contributed to this report.

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