Former President George H. W. Bush Hospitalized For Shortness Of Breath

By Camila Domonoske / NPR

Published January 18, 2017 at 1:09 AM PST

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

Former President George H.W. Bush flipped the coin for the kick off between the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Oct. 30, 2016, in Houston, Texas.

Former President George H. W. Bush was hospitalized for shortness of breath over the weekend, his spokesman tells NPR.

Bush was brought to a Houston-area hospital on Saturday and "has responded very well to treatments," Jim McGrath said. "We hope to have him out soon."

Bush, 92, is the oldest living U.S. president. (Jimmy Carter is a little more than three months his junior.)

Become a KPBS sponsor

As The Associated Press notes, Bush "has a form of Parkinson's disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility."

Reuters reports that the elder Bush was hospitalized twice in 2014, and fell and broke a bone in his neck in 2015.

His public appearances have been rare over the past two years, although he still attends Houston-area sports events (and occasionally throws the first pitch or flips the coin for a kick-off).