Senator Mitch McConnell has disclosed for the first time that a fall was behind his lengthy hospitalization, saying he was admitted after the accident and went on to develop mild pneumonia. The statement, his first on his condition, broke weeks of silence about the health of the veteran Kentucky Republican, whose extended stay in the hospital had fueled growing speculation about how he was faring.
In the statement, McConnell said that last month he took a fall that landed him in the hospital. He added that his doctors had confirmed he did not break any bones or suffer a concussion, that he did not have a heart attack or a stroke, and that he had no tumors or hemorrhages. After the fall, he said, he then had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia during his stay.
The senator struck a reassuring tone about how he had handled the ordeal. "I have been a good patient," he said, adding that at his age he tends to do what his doctors tell him to do. McConnell said he had submitted to every test his doctors could think of, framing his recovery as one guided closely by the medical team looking after him.
The hospitalization dated back several weeks, to June 14. In the time since, McConnell's office had provided very little information about his condition, insisting only that the senator was receiving excellent care and was recovering. The lack of detail left the specifics of what had sent him to the hospital, and how serious it was, largely unexplained for weeks.
That silence left room for questions. As his hospital stay grew longer and longer, speculation about the state of his health began to mount, and it grew increasingly intense. The scrutiny reflected McConnell's standing as Kentucky's longest-serving senator, a distinction that has made his condition a matter of close attention in his home state and in Washington.
A statement from the office of his attending physician filled in more of the picture. It said McConnell has experienced several falls over the past year that have been attributed to his post-polio condition, and that he was admitted to the hospital about four weeks ago after falling. During the stay he developed pneumonia, which the physician said responded rapidly to antibiotic treatment.
The remainder of his time in the hospital focused on physical therapy and on strategies to reduce his risk of future falls, according to the physician's statement. McConnell has since been medically cleared to continue fully participating in an intensive physical therapy program, an assessment that, together with his own account, offered the clearest picture yet of what had kept him hospitalized since mid-June.