By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) - Former President George H.W. Bush was moved out of intensive care and into a regular patient room at a Houston hospital on Wednesday as he recovers from an infection that required his hospitalization a day after his wife's funeral, a family spokesman said.
The nation's 41st president is expected to remain at Houston Methodist Hospital for "several more days," spokesman Jim McGrath said. Bush, who is 93, is being treated for an infection that spread to his blood.
"He is alert and talking with hospital staff, family and friends, and his doctors are very pleased with his progress," McGrath said in a statement.
He noted that Bush was more focused on the Houston Rockets playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves "than anything that landed him in the hospital." Bush, frequently accompanied by his wife, has long been a fixture at Houston sporting events.
During a Wednesday appearance at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said his father will be leaving the hospital on Friday. He called his father "stronger than an ox" and the "greatest man alive."
Bush was hospitalized on Sunday, a day after he attended the funeral and burial of his wife, Barbara. Married for 73 years, the Bushes were the longest-married presidential couple in U.S. history. Barbara Bush was 92 when she died on April 17 at their Houston home.
Bush sent a tweet earlier Wednesday thanking Houston for its "professionalism and obvious care" during the memorials and services for his wife . He specifically cited Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the city's police and transit agency "and really all Houstonians" for "making Barbara's visitors and funeral guests feel so welcomed."
He also thanked St. Martin's Episcopal Church, where the funeral was held and where he and his wife worshipped for years, and Second Baptist Church, which served as a staging area a few miles away for city buses that carried thousands of visitors to St. Martin's for a public viewing a day before the funeral.
McGrath said the former president is thankful for everyone sending prayers and good wishes.
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(AP Photo/David J. Phillip ). Former Presidents George W. Bush, left, and George H.W. Bush arrive at St. Martin's Episcopal Church for a funeral service for former first lady Barbara Bush, Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Houston.
(Paul Morse/Courtesy of Office of George H.W. Bush via AP). This Saturday, April 21, 2018, photo provided by the Office of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, shows Bush, front center, and past presidents and first ladies Laura Bush, from left, Geo...
(Paul Morse/Courtesy of Office of George H.W. Bush via AP). This Saturday, April 21, 2018, photo provided by the Office of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush shows Bush's socks during the funeral service for his wife, Barbara Bush, in Houston. Bar...
(AP Photo/Ed Kolenovsky, File). FILE - In this Oct. 12, 1987, file photo, Vice President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, with their son George W. Bush, far left, wave to supporters who turned out in Houston, to hear him announce he was a candida...
(AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine, File). FILE - In this April 10, 1985, file photo, U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush reacts after he throws the ceremonial first pitch during the New York Mets season opener with the St. Louis Cardinals at New York's Shea S...