Mayor Hospitalized After Fainting Spell

Mayor Manuel Lopez remained hospitalized Wednesday as doctors tried to determine what caused him to feel faint earlier this week.

Lopez, an optometrist, was at a colleague’s office Monday when he had a severe dizzy spell and was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Doctors gave Lopez a battery of coronary tests but have not specified a cause for the episode. The mayor expects to go home today.

“I felt really weak,” Lopez said from his hospital bed. “They’ve done a zillion tests, but I feel fine right now.”

Lopez had one lung removed while stricken with tuberculosis as a child, and that sometimes causes him strain. He said he feels well enough to make the next City Council meeting Nov. 18.