Sen. McConnell 'not yet medically cleared' to leave rehab facility
· UPIJuly 27 (UPI) -- A new statement from Sen. Mitch McConnell's office on Monday said the senator "is not yet medically cleared" to leave a rehab facility after a fall last month.
Questions about McConnell's health and status have grown since the senator was hospitalized in mid-June. After weeks of near-silence from his office, the senator, 84, said in a statement earlier this month that he was hospitalized after a fall and was undergoing physical therapy at a rehab facility. There is no word on when he will return to the Senate.
The statement Monday included an update from the Office of the Attending Physician, which said, "Since [McConnell's] discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls."
The OAP also said, however, that McConnell isn't medically cleared to leave the facility.
The statement included a photo of McConnell and his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
In the statement from his office, McConnell said, "I'm still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors' orders."
The senator said that he will not be able to attend the Fancy Farm picnic, a major political gathering next weekend in Kentucky.
"There's no place I'd rather be on the first Saturday in August than with the good people of western Kentucky, feasting on pork and mutton," the statement said.
The former Senate Republican leader is set to retire at the end of his current term in January.
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