Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was moved from a Houston hospital to a nearby rehabilitation center Wednesday morning, after doctors upgraded her condition from "serious" to "good. The Arizona Democrat had been in the neuro-intensive care unit at Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center since arriving in Houston on Friday. She will continue her long-term recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann rehabilitation center.
On Jan. 8, Giffords was shot in the head at close range at a constituent event in Tucson. The shooting rampage killed six and injured 12 others.
Doctors in Texas scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 3 p.m. Houston time (4 p.m. Eastern time) to provide an update on Giffords's progress.
The hospital statement announcing that Giffords's would be transferred was issued late Tuesday night, about two hours after President Obama's State of the Union address, which was affected in subtle and not-so-subtle ways by the Tucson shootings.
"Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has made strong progress in the Neuro ICU," the hospital statement read. "This evening, her doctors upgraded her condition from serious to good and determined that she is ready to move."
Obama opened his remarks with good wishes for Giffords and the other victims. Lawmakers pinned black-and-white ribbons over their hearts to memorialize those who were shot, and saved an empty seat on the House floor in tribute to Giffords.
Members did not sit according to party, as is normally the case, instead opting for a symbolic show of bipartisanship and unity.
Up in the gallery, first lady Michelle Obama was surrounded by heroes and others touched by the Arizona shooting. She sat next to the family of Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year-old who was killed while waiting to meet Giffords and learn more about government.
Behind the first lady sat Peter Rhee, one of Giffords's trauma surgeons in Tucson, and Daniel Hernandez, 21, a Giffords intern who was at the constituent event and helped keep the congresswoman alive before emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
Giffords's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, was invited to join them in the first lady's box, but he declined. He watched Obama's speech on a television at his wife's bedside in Texas, apparently holding her hand throughout, according to a photograph released Tuesday night by her congressional office.
