George McGovern in S.D. hospice

• Tweet

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, entered a hospice in Sioux Falls, S.D., Monday.

It wasn't clear why McGovern, 90, who served three terms in the U.S. Senate after two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was admitted to Dougherty Hospice House, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.

"We can confirm that Sen. McGovern is a patient at our Dougherty Hospice House, but we really don't have any information beyond that point," Michelle Pellman, a spokeswoman for Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, said.

Just over a week ago, McGovern had appeared at the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra's opening night performance, where he narrated Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," the newspaper said.

He has had health issues in the past year, however. A year ago, he was hospitalized for exhaustion after speaking at three universities in Europe, and on Dec. 2 he fell and suffered a head injury while walking to the set of a live television broadcast. He was hospitalized in Florida in April after fainting a couple of times.