It was last week that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was hospitalized with a concussion he suffered during a fall, and it was presumed at that time that he would swiftly return to work in the Capitol building after just a few days of rest.
Yet, it has now been revealed that McConnell’s injuries were more serious than initially reported and he will first spend time at a rehab facility before eventually returning to the Senate at an unspecified future date, the Conservative Brief reported.
McConnell is not ready to return just yet
According to the Western Journal, Sen. McConnell tripped and fell on Wednesday last week while attending a Washington D.C. fundraising event for his fellow Republicans at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
He was taken to nearby George Washington University Hospital and diagnosed with a concussion after that fall, and was kept at the hospital throughout the weekend for observation and mandatory rest to aid his recovery.
Per McConnell’s communications director, David Popp, the Republican leader was released from the hospital on Monday but, on the advice of his doctors, is now undergoing physical therapy at an “inpatient rehabilitation facility” prior to being cleared to return home.
It was also revealed by Popp that, in addition to the concussion, the 81-year-old Kentucky senator also suffered a “minor rib fracture” in the accidental fall that will require further rest and recovery before he is ready to return to his duties in D.C.
McConnell is now at an “inpatient rehabilitation facility”
“Leader McConnell’s concussion recovery is proceeding well and the Leader was discharged from the hospital today,” Popp said in a statement Monday. “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.”
“Over the course of treatment this weekend, the Leader’s medical team discovered that he also suffered a minor rib fracture on Wednesday, for which he is also being treated,” he added. “The Leader and Secretary Chao are deeply thankful for the skilled medical care, prayers, and kindness they have received.”
Mitch McConnell has been discharged from the hospital after a concussion and, according to his spokesperson, a “minor rib fracture.”
McConnell will head to inpatient physical therapy before he goes home. pic.twitter.com/PfuLC6PPgb
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 13, 2023
Timeline for return depends on progress of recovery
CNN reported that, when Sen. McConnell was first admitted to the hospital last week, Popp had said that he would remain there “for a few days of observation and treatment.”
That initial prognosis has now changed with the new information about the fractured rib and rehab facility stay, and it is now unclear when McConnell will eventually return to the Senate.
“That decision will be made by the Leader’s physicians and the therapists,” an unnamed aide for McConnell told CNN of the senator’s estimated time of return. “It is very common to undergo physical therapy to regain strength after a hospital stay and this ranges anywhere from a week to two weeks.”
McConnell not the only hospitalized senator
CNN further reported that Sen. McConnell appeared to be “acting normally” and was “eager” to check out of the hospital last week, as well as that he had suffered no “visible wounds” during the fall, according to an anonymous source.
The outlet also noted that McConnell wasn’t the only member of the Senate missing from the action at the moment, as both Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were currently hospitalized, the former with a bad case of shingles and the latter with clinical depression that likely is related to his rushed recovery from the near-fatal stroke he suffered less than a year ago.
