Ford Improving, Doctors Say; Full Recovery Expected

Doctors said Thursday that former President Ford, who was hospitalized after suffering one and maybe two small strokes, was getting better and was expected to make a full recovery.

After a brief visit with Ford at Hahnemann University Hospital, Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush delivered the same news at a white-china luncheon of Republican women, who applauded heartily.

“I’ve come from the hospital, and President Ford is doing great,” Bush told about 2,200 people at the lunch, a tribute to his wife, Laura. “He told me to tell people that he can’t wait to come out and campaign with me in a couple of weeks.”

Ford was in town to attend the Republican National Convention.

Dr. Robert Schwartzmann, the hospital’s chief of neurology, said Ford’s condition had improved since he arrived Wednesday.

“His left hand has returned to normal,” Schwartzmann said.

Ford walked a short distance Thursday morning but was still having problems with slurred speech and a swollen tongue, doctors said.

He first went to the hospital early Wednesday morning complaining of pain in his tongue. He returned several hours later with balance problems, slurred speech and pain in his left arm. Tests indicated he had suffered at least one minor stroke in the back of his brain.

Ford, whose wife, Betty, and three grown children were with him at the hospital Thursday, is being treated with the blood-thinning medication Coumadin and was expected to remain in the hospital here at least through the weekend.