AUSTIN (KXAN) — John van Dijk remembers the chest pain. He had not been feeling well and ended up in the emergency room.
“I wasn’t on my medication,” he said of that August day. “It was pretty bad.”
He would find out that he had dangerously high blood pressure. At the time, he didn’t have a primary care doctor. He explained that he had been trying to find one but couldn’t get an appointment right away.
“I lost my insurance and my job during the pandemic, and I just had a hard time establishing myself afterwards,” explained van Dijk.
He’s not alone.
Recently, Ines Cariel explained she couldn’t schedule a colonoscopy in the Austin area until January 2025. She said after months of checking she was finally able to find an appointment sooner.
“You wait for an appointment three, four or more months for — to see (a) doctor,” Cariel said.
Kraven Rowry, who lives in Hutto, got an initial appointment to see her OB-GYN during the pandemic for an annual exam but couldn’t get in after for a follow-up.