Richard Simmons' Hospitalization Way More Serious

Richard Simmons' people claimed he was in the hospital for less than 24 hours, but that doesn't seem to be the case, because his housekeeper made several trips to Cedars-Sinai ... days after he was admitted.

The housekeeper (above) made 2 trips to Cedars Monday. TMZ broke the story ... the housekeeper called 911 just before midnight Friday after Richard became incoherent. He was taken to Cedars, but the housekeeper and his other confidantes claimed he was out by Saturday afternoon.

A post on Simmons' Facebook account stated he suffered from dehydration, but 3 days in it looks like he never checked out of the hospital.