Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D) has checked himself into a hospital for depression, according to a press release issued Thursday by his spokesman.
Fetterman’s Chief of Staff Adam Jentleson said the senator checked himself into Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday night to receive treatment for clinical depression.
“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Jentleson said in his press release.
Jentleson said Fetterman was evaluated Monday by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Attending Physician of the U.S. Congress. On Wednesday, Dr. Monahan recommended “impatient care” at Walter Reed, Jentleson said, and Fetterman voluntarily agreed to receive treatment.
“After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed told us that John is getting the care he needs and will soon be back to himself,” Jentleson said in his release.
Fetterman’s admission to Walter Reed marks the second time in a week the senator is being examined in a hospital. He stayed two days at George Washington University Hospital after “feeling lightheaded” while on a Senate Democratic retreat in Washington, D.C., driven by his staff to the hospital on Feb. 8.
On Feb. 9, Fetterman’s communications director Joe Calvello said the senator received the results of an MRI.
“According to John’s doctors at The George Washington University Hospital, the results of the MRI, along with the results of all of the other tests the doctors ran, rule out a new stroke. He is being monitored with an EEG for signs of seizure — so far there are no signs of seizure, but he is still being monitored,” Calvello said in his statement.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in Lancaster on May 13 while on the campaign trail, just days before the spring primary vote that secured his Democrat nomination for the Senate. He spent more than a week at Lancaster General Hospital before recovering at his home in Braddock.
Fetterman wasn’t the only Pennsylvania Senator in the hospital this week. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey underwent prostate cancer surgery on Tuesday.
“His doctor reports that, as expected, the procedure went well and he confirmed that the Senator should not require further treatment,” Casey’s office said in a statement released Tuesday.
Staff writer Michael Yoder is an award-winning journalist who has been honored with several Keystone Press Awards for his investigative pieces.
