A stray bullet may have traveled for more than a mile before it broke through the window of a Pennsylvania hospital, striking a woman inside, authorities said Tuesday.

A 62-year-old woman sitting up in bed in a first-floor room was struck in the abdomen by a bullet shot from outside the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa., according to hospital officials and law enforcement.

The hospital would not release the identity of the woman or comment on her reason for being in the hospital.

"The patient was taken to surgery and is now in fair (stable) condition," hospital spokeswoman Katrina Stier said in a statement to ABC News.com.

The bullet hit the woman just before midnight on Monday night, said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan at a press conference.

"She heard a popping sound, then reached down to her side, her abdominal area, where she noticed she was in pain and had blood coming out of that area," Whelan said.

The woman pressed her call button for help. Police were called to the hospital and the woman was rushed to surgery.

The bullet exited her back and was found in her hospital bed, Whelan said.

"There are certain neighborhoods that are in close proximity to this hospital that have a high rate of crime and a high incidence of drug activity," he said.