Former Essendon footballer and coach James Hird is reportedly receiving medical treatment following a major health scare.

Hird is said to have been taken to Cabrini Hospital on Wednesday night before being transferred elsewhere.

Shortly before 8:00pm his wife Tania returned to their home at Toorak in Melbourne's inner south-east without him.

Hird was handed a one year ban from AFL over the Bombers 2012 supplement saga — but he strongly denied any wrongdoing.

The 43-year-old played 253 games for the Bombers from 1992 to 2007, winning premierships in 1993 and 2000.

He captained the club between 1998 and 2005.

He won the Brownlow Medal in 1996 alongside Brisbane's Michael Voss and was chosen as an All-Australian five times.

Hird became head coach of Essendon at the end of the 2010 season before becoming embroiled in the 2012 supplements scandal.

In 2013, the five-time club best and fairest winner was banned for 12 months for prejudicing the game.

He returned to take over as coach again in 2015 but resigned in August of the same year as the club failed to shake off the effects of the scandal.