DeSaulnier’s condition improves, transferred out of intensive care

U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier has made positive progress in the hospital while battling pneumonia, with his condition improving to the point that he was transferred out of the intensive care unit on Monday, according to his sons.

DeSaulnier, a 68-year-old Democrat from Concord and a cancer survivor, has been hospitalized in the Washington, D.C., area for the last month since developing serious pneumonia after breaking a rib when he fell while running. The third-term congressman tested negative for the novel coronavirus on March 16.

“Our Dad is a fighter, he has made good progress, and today he moved out of the intensive care unit and will continue to be treated in the hospital for non-COVID pneumonia, and begin a journey towards recovery,” Tristan and Tucker DeSaulnier said in a statement on Monday evening.

“This would be difficult enough at any time, but given the daily dangers we all face from the coronavirus, his path ahead is especially complicated,” they added.

Rep. DeSaulnier, whose 11th Congressional District includes Danville and Alamo, has been in the hospital since March 13 to treat complications of pneumonia brought on by a traumatic rib fracture after he fell during a run.

DeSaulnier was originally admitted in serious but stable condition. But his health status deteriorated and he was transferred to the ICU in critical condition, his chief of staff Betsy Arnold Marr announced on March 21.

The congressman had been in the ICU since then, including on his 68th birthday on March 31, though his condition began to stabilize incrementally.

DeSaulnier’s adult sons confirmed on Monday that his progress reached the point to which he could be transferred out of the ICU and continue his treatment and recovery elsewhere in the hospital.

“Heartfelt concerns and well-wishes from the community, for whom he cares so deeply, have kept Dad going, and we can’t thank everyone enough. We appreciate the kindness during this difficult time, and we hope that you can continue to offer support and time as he heals,” Tristan and Tucker DeSaulnier said.

“We are incredibly grateful for the tireless efforts of the ICU doctors, nurses and hospital staff who cared for our Dad and go above and beyond for everyone who enters their doors,” they added.

DeSaulnier, who is seeking re-election this year and was the top vote-getter in the March 3 primary election, has nearly 30 years of public service experience in Contra Costa County, starting on the Concord City Council, then moving to the county’s Board of Supervisors and later the California State Assembly and State Senate before being elected to Congress in November 2014.

During his first term in Washington, D.C., DeSaulnier announced in May 2016 that he had undergone successful treatment during the previous year for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.