He became ill and was promptly sent to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He had very high blood pressure and diabetes and what he thought was temporary blindness. The staff discharged him to a new place, the Will Rogers Memorial Hospita in, Saranac Lake, NY, an institution that has treated show biz people with diseases, without charge, since the 1920s. From here he was sent to see specialists at the Physicians' Hospital in Plattsburgh, NY, but later returned to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital.