Former President George H.W. Bush Hospitalized In Maine, Spokesman Says

Former President George H.W. Bush is hospitalized in Maine — a week after he arrived in the state to spend the summer.

Spokesman Jim McGrath says the 93 year old was hospitalized on Sunday after experiencing low blood pressure and fatigue. He was taken to Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford which is about 20 miles south of Portland.

McGrath said Bush was awake, alert and not in any discomfort — adding the 41st president would spend at least a few days in the hospital for observation.

According to The Associated Press, Bush attended a pancake breakfast on Saturday at an American Legion post in Kennebunkport. And, he had been scheduled to attend a Memorial Day parade in the town Monday.

The former president has had his share of health problems in recent years, including hospitalizations for pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He uses a wheelchair because of a disorder that mimics the effects of Parkinson's disease.

Bush arrived in Maine on May 20 about a month after the death of his wife, Barbara. She died on April 17 at the age of 92. The couple had been married 73 years.

Just days before Barbara Bush died, the family said that the former first lady had elected to not receive additional medical treatment and instead focus on "comfort care."

The day after his wife's funeral, the former president was hospitalized for a blood infection in Houston on April 22. He remained there for 13 days.

Bush will turn 94 on June 12 — he is America's longest-living former president.

He has visited the family compound, known as Walker's Point, in Kennebunkport, nearly every summer since he was a child. The AP says the only exception was during the years of his World War II service.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.