Bill Clinton showed his doctors yesterday that he knows how to follow orders – stopping by the hospital that diagnosed his heart problem and wowing the crowd with his stunning weight loss.
As these photos show, there was a lot less of Bill Clinton on display at Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, where the ex-president cut the ribbon on a new cardiac center.
Just four months ago, Clinton flashed his best greasy-burger smile at a Post photographer during an outing to the Central Park Zoo. But yesterday, he was a shadow of his former self, thanks to a strict regimen.
After the heart scare in September – when doctors performed a quadruple bypass after learning that the 42nd president’s heart arteries were 90 percent clogged – Clinton was put on a strict diet and ordered to lose weight.
Clinton has credited the South Beach Diet for helping him trim down – but yesterday, he thanked the doctors who saved his life.
“I am a clear beneficiary of quality care,” Clinton told the beaming staff.
“I feel deeply indebted to the people here and to the people who do this work around the country.”
As he made the rounds to thank cardiac unit director Dr. Anthony Pucillo and his team, Clinton told them how the publicity surrounding his near tragedy had brought increased awareness of heart issues to the public.
“This may have affected more people than anything I did when I was president,” he quipped.
“We have a world-class facility here, but it has to be used. Make sure you don’t need to be here before it’s too late.”
Pucillo said he was delighted at Clinton’s “terrific recovery.”
—
About-face
THEN
Chubba Bubba, 216 pounds in August 2004, thanks to a steady diet of Big Macs, fries and high-fat goat’s milk yogurt.
NOW
The Lean Machine, yesterday, thanks to a heart-friendly regimen of turkey burgers, tuna-cranberry salad and no-fat yogurt.