Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris has been released from Allegheny General Hospital after a 19-day stay that included abdominal surgery.

Mrs. Harris was discharged Wednesday and now is recuperating at home, her office announced. In a statement, Mrs. Harris said she plans to preside at council's Aug. 27 meeting, the first after its August recess.

"I'm very happy to be home," she said, "but I'm eager to be back at work as well. My staff greeted me at home within an hour of my return with lots of paperwork to sign and issues to discuss. And to me, that's better medicine than anything else."

Mrs. Harris was hospitalized July 31 with pain in her side. She had surgery Aug. 9 for an "inflammatory condition" that failed to respond to antibiotics.

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