Hoda Kotb Gives Update on Daughter Hope’s Health

Hoda Kotb’s youngest daughter Hope is “thriving” and “improving” after suffering a medical crisis in February 2023.

The NBC anchor, 60, shared an update on her 5-year-old daughter with PEOPLE on Thursday, Oct. 10, after Hope’s health scare left her family looking for answers on a long-term medical journey. Kotb has refrained from sharing the specific details of her daughter’s health issues in the interest of Hope’s privacy but told the outlet “things have stabilized” after she, Hope, and 7-year-old daughter Haley moved from New York City to Westchester.

“We’re in a place where Hope is thriving,” Kotb shared. “She’s improving, we’re watching her, and I think as time goes on, we’ll have a better handle on it, but we’re already seeing great differences.” The mom of two continued, “We really have excellent care; I have people helping us out. I feel like she is finding steady footing.”

Alongside Kotb’s big family move comes a major career change, as the journalist announced in September that she would be leaving the TODAY show after 17 years to focus on her kids.

“As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” Kotb wrote in a letter to TODAY staff at the time. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”

She continued, “My broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited.”

Kotb shared on the NBC morning show that turning 60 inspired her to “try something new” in her life in order to spend more time with her kids. “I had my kiddos later in life and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time. And so, with all that being said, this is the hardest thing in the world,” she said through tears.

Kotb will stay in her current role until the beginning of 2025, but will “stay in the NBC family” even after stepping back, which she noted was “kind of a big deal” for her.