Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was discharged from the hospital Monday, nearly a week after suffering a concussion during a fall, and will move to a rehabilitation facility for physical therapy before going home, his office announced.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press file
“Leader McConnell’s concussion recovery is proceeding well and the Leader was discharged from the hospital today,” David Popp, a spokesperson for McConnell said in a statement. “At the advice of his physician, the next step will be a period of physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation facility before he returns home.”
The statement also noted doctors during his hospital stay discovered McConnell “suffered a minor rib fracture” in the fall.
The 81-year-old senator has been hospitalized and receiving treatment for a concussion since late in the evening of March 8, when he tripped after attending a private dinner at a Washington hotel. That dinner followed a reception at the Waldorf Astoria for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC that raises unlimited donations to support GOP candidates, where McConnell had spoken earlier in the evening.
A Senate aide said McConnell’s medical providers will determine how long he remains in the rehabilitation facility, but noted post-hospitalization stays often last one to two weeks.
Senators had received an update on McConnell’s condition on Thursday afternoon at a private lunch, where they were told he would remain in the hospital for several more days but was in “good spirits,” several senators said.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1985 and became GOP leader in 2007. He has held that post longer than anyone.
Last week’s fall was not the first in which McConnell was injured. He underwent surgery in August 2019 after he fractured his shoulder tripping outside his Louisville home. The senator, who had polio as a child, also has a history of heart issues and had triple bypass surgery in 2003.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
