Defense Secretary Austin Hospitalized Again Has Transferred Duties, Pentagon Says

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who was readmitted to hospital on Sunday afternoon, has been transferred to a critical care unit, according to an update from the Pentagon on Feb. 11.

Officials at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said in a statement that Mr. Austin, who had earlier been admitted to the hospital for an “emergent bladder issue,” needed “supportive care and close monitoring” in the military hospital’s critical care unit.

The decision was made following a series of tests and evaluations on Mr. Austin’s condition.

Mr. Austin was transported to Walter Reed by his security detail and admitted at around 2:20 p.m. due to his bladder symptoms, according to an initial announcement on the secretary’s hospitalization by Pentagon press secretary, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

He added that the deputy secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been notified of the hospitalization, following earlier criticism that Mr. Austin had kept secret a hospitalization he had undergone in December.

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