DALLAS – The shoulder pain and dizziness started before the pandemic, but Shane Hardin, 46, didn’t think much of it.
Aches and pains come with the territory of getting older, and Hardin’s job in residential construction can be draining. The spread of COVID-19 across North Texas dissuaded him further from seeing his general practitioner for a check-up.
For more than two years, patients like Hardin pushed off routine health care visits as offices closed to non-emergency cases and the threat of coronavirus loomed. It could take years before the health care system sees the full effects – both physical and financial – of delayed care, North Texas doctors say.
