Pediatric offices are reporting overwhelming demand, leading a doctor in southern Saratoga County to ask for state leaders to alleviate some of the pressure.

“We’re really at a crisis point,” said Dr. Harry Miller, a founding pediatrician at Four Seasons Pediatrics in Clifton Park.

Miller’s staff fields more than 600 calls a day. They start pouring in as soon as the office opens.

“We knew there would be a challenge when school started up this year,” Miller said. “But we had no idea how big a challenge it was going to be."

He says the ongoing pandemic and upcoming flu season is straining the staff.

“We’re getting calls about every child on day one,” he said. “And we’re not just seeing the kids who are sick, but the kids who are well, with concerning symptoms that might be COVID.”

Four Seasons offers COVID-19 testing, which stretches the office staff thinner.

“The amount of testing we did before, we could handle. Now, we can’t,” Miller said. "Either something has to change in the protocols for testing, or where that testing is done.”

Miller says testing should remain a priority for children, and is critical to keeping kids in school.

“We think the importance for mental health, for kids to be in school, is absolutely awesome to get them back there,” he said.

He called on state leaders to spend just an hour at a pediatric office.

“Just see behind the scenes, what is going on. To see it will be an appreciation,” he said. “We really need some help, because kids are going to get hurt.”