(ABC News) Former President Bill Clinton was taken to a Manhattan hospital yesterday afternoon and two stents were installed in one of his coronary arteries, his office said.
The former president is hospitalized for a procedure related to his heart.
Clinton, 63, was transported to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan for a condition related to his heart.
The former president’s counselor Douglas Band released a statement saying that Clinton is in “good spirits.”
“Today President Bill Clinton was admitted to the Columbia Campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest,” said Band. “Following a visit to his cardiologist, he underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries.”
A stent is a wire mesh tube used to prop open an artery.
“President Clinton is in good spirits and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti’s relief and long-term recovery efforts,” Band said.
ABC News’ chief political correspondent George Stephanopoulos reports that sources tell him “this is not life-threatening.”
Stephanopoulos, commenting on Clinton’s non-stop work ethic, said the former president has worked “20 hours a day for the last 20 years.”
Sources on Capitol Hill tell ABC News that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was seen leaving the Oval Office around the same time that Clinton had been hospitalized.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Secretary Clinton was scheduled to leave for an overseas trip to Qatar and Saudi Arabia Friday. It wasn’t immediately known whether the trip would still take place, and Secretary Clinton headed for New York this evening to be with her husband.
“She left the White House after her meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office, and is now headed to New York City. If we have anything to add beyond that, we will, including any changes to her schedule in the coming days,” the State Department said in a statement.
One source told ABC News, however, that Secretary Clinton is still planning to head to Middle Easttoday. One source said that should “speak volumes” about the ex-president’s condition.