Ex-President George H.W. Bush may leave hospital soon - spokesman

Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and his father George H.W. Bush attend a function onboard the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier off the coast of Maine, June 10, 2012 in this U.S. Navy handout photo. The elder Bush, a former naval aviator, and his family members were attending a reenlistment ceremony on the carrier named for him.

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who has been hospitalized in Houston since November, may be released from the facility in the coming days, a family spokesman said on Sunday.

"We are hopeful that the president can be discharged this coming week, but we're still taking everything one day at a time," spokesman Jim McGrath said in an email.

Bush's son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, said on Saturday that his father was expected to be released from the hospital on Monday, according to TCPalm.com.

The former president, 88, who led a coalition that pushed Iraqi forces out of Kuwait in 1991, was admitted to Methodist Hospital on November 23 for bronchitis and then transferred to intensive care in December after coming down with a persistent fever and other complications. He was moved to a regular patient room after his condition improved last month.

Bush has lower-body parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and he has used a wheelchair for more than a year.

The 41st president, who is also the father of former President George W. Bush, served as a congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, CIA director and as vice president for two terms under President Ronald Reagan. (Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Paul Simao)