Transfer to private clinic

Italian politician and former foreign minister Emma Bonino is scheduled to leave the intensive care unit at Santo Spirito hospital in Rome on Thursday, 10 September 2026. Her transfer to a private healthcare clinic was confirmed following a medical consultation between her attending physician, Dr. Claudio Santini, and the specialized intensive care team at the hospital. Her political party, +Europa, announced the development through an official medical bulletin, noting that while her condition has stabilized, her overall health remains delicate. The identity of the private facility chosen for her ongoing convalescence has not been disclosed to the public.

“Emma Bonino's situation remains stable but delicate, and she is still hospitalized at the Santo Spirito hospital in Rome. Following a consultation between her attending physician Dr. Claudio Santini and the doctors at Santo Spirito, it was decided that tomorrow Bonino will leave intensive care to be transferred to a private facility.”

Monday emergency admission in Rome

The 78-year-old former senator, born in Bra in the province of Cuneo, was admitted to the hospital on the evening of Monday, 7 September 2026, following a severe respiratory crisis. Her breathing difficulties escalated around 17:00 at her private residence in Rome, where she had been experiencing recurrent breathing issues since late August that were aggravated by prolonged extreme heat. After discovering that her trusted doctor was unavailable for an immediate home emergency visit, people in her home alerted her personal assistant, and they contacted the 118 emergency medical service together. Emergency personnel evaluated Bonino at her home before transporting her by ambulance under code red status directly to the emergency department at Santo Spirito. Despite the severe respiratory distress, medical staff noted that Bonino remained conscious, lucid, and able to converse with the medical team throughout her transport and admission.

Stabilization in intensive care

Hospital physicians admitted Bonino directly into the intensive care unit as a precautionary measure to carry out diagnostic tests and evaluate her response to treatment. The clinical team observed a positive reaction to initial therapies, which allowed Bonino to overcome the acute respiratory crisis in just over 24 hours. She spent an additional night in the resuscitation ward under continuous medical observation while doctors carried out further evaluations to confirm that she could safely leave the intensive care ward. Her attending medical team emphasized caution throughout the hospital stay, urging the public and media to rely strictly on verified information released through official medical bulletins rather than unofficial reports.

Prior respiratory and metabolic treatments

The hospitalization on Monday is the latest in a series of medical complications that Bonino has faced in recent years. In 2015, the political leader was diagnosed with a lung microcytoma, a form of carcinoma in her left lung, and she announced her recovery from the disease eight years later in 2023. Her respiratory health required medical intervention again between 2024 and 2025, including a hospital stay for respiratory difficulty in October 2024 and a seven-day hospitalization in early 2025. In November 2025, Bonino was rushed to Santo Spirito hospital while unconscious and was subsequently transferred to the Stroke Unit at San Filippo Neri hospital for specialized care. During that week-long hospitalization, medical examinations ruled out a recurrence of her 2015 lung carcinoma and attributed her condition to a metabolic problem before discharging her.