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Former President Bill Clinton hospitalized in New York City after suffering chest pains

By Celeste Katz and David Saltonstall
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, February 11th 2010, 5:16 PM


Harrer/Bloomberg
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was hospitalized Thursday in New York City.






Former President Bill Clinton was hospitalized at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan Thursday after suffering chest pains.
Following a visit to his cardiologist, the former president "underwent a procedure to place two stents in one of his coronary arteries," said Douglas Band, a counselor to the president, in a statement.

"President Clinton is in good spirits, and will continue to focus on the work of his Foundation and Haiti's relief and long-term recovery efforts," Band added.

While the seriousness of the ex-president's condition could not be immediately determined, his hospitalization comes about six years after he underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery at the same facility.
Sources on Capitol Hill told ABC News that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was seen leaving the Oval Office this afternoon and did not seem "too concerned" or "in a rush."

Doctors who performed the bypass operation on Clinton in September 2004 found that Clinton's heart disease was extensive, with blockages in some arteries well over 90 percent.

But the operation was deemed a success, and recently the former president had shown no signs of slowing down.
He was in Haiti in early February, helping to deliver relief supplies and visitiung medical clinics.

And as recently as yesterday, he planned to meet with editors at The Daily New to discuss plans for his Haiti relief fund. That meeting was abruptly cancelled at midday.