Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is developing a plan to transform the U.S. health system, is in the middle of her own deeply personal health-care crisis: the critical illness of her 81-year-old father, Hugh Rodham.
As it is for millions of other Baby Boomers grappling with the problems of aging or sick parents, the experience has been traumatic and disruptive for the Clintons. Friends paint Hugh Rodham’s prognosis as grim.
Even if he can survive the initial effects of the stroke, friends say, the family may well have to face agonizing choices involved with convalescent care or long dependence on life support systems.
Rodham suffered a stroke on March 19, and Mrs. Clinton flew to Arkansas to be at his side, temporarily putting her involvement in health-care reform on a back burner. She missed the only public hearing on the subject Monday in Washington.
The illness also has disrupted the president’s schedule. Over the last 10 days, he has twice flown to Little Rock, most recently on Sunday. After intending all day Monday to return to Washington, he decided late in the afternoon to stay with his family.
Rodham, a retired drapery salesman from Park Ridge, Ill., suffered the stroke at his home in Little Rock and remains in critical condition in St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center there. Mrs. Clinton, accompanied by her mother, Dorothy Rodham, and two brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, spend “many hours” each day at his bedside, family friends said.
Providing few details at their request, a hospital spokeswoman said only that Hugh Rodham is in the coronary care unit and that his condition was unchanged. Nearby “there is a small `quiet’ room where the family spends most of their time,” said the spokeswoman, Carolyn Lindsey.
Dr. Susan Santa Cruz, Rodham’s physician, said she believes the stroke was caused by a blood clot in his brain.
After paying a visit to the hospital, one close friend said that his conversation with the Clintons was of small talk and family matters. “We talked about tennis and softball, not health-care policy,” the friend said.
“It’s a very tough deal,” said the friend. “Their relationship is strong.”
Another friend who visited the hospital said Mrs. Clinton “is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. The family is taking it one day at a time. With a stroke, you just have to wait and see.”
