Nowadays, any professional person or owner of a retail business has to be more solicitous of customer and client needs and feelings than ever before. One misperceived move can result in a hard-won reputation being trashed on social media.

On the other hand, there is Dr. Steven Gewirtzman, managing partner of what is now Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Primary Care, Chestnut Hill. After 39 years with the practice, formerly Chestnut Hill Pediatric Group, Gewirtzman has retired, seeing his last patient on June 29. If you Google his name, you will see 282 comments from patients, with the average rating 4.9 out of 5.

The first of the comments, all posted in June, are typical of the rest: “Dr G is incredible. He was so thoughtful and took the time to both understand and explain his recommendations for how to treat my child. He’s a gem of a physician.” Then there’s “Dr. G is the best out there. He is so knowledgeable and deeply cares about his patients. I only wish there were more like him!” And also, “Dr. G is fantastic. He provides education and good things to simply think about now and/or in the future during the visit. He is a great listener, answers questions thoroughly and it’s clear he is passionate about what he does.”

When Gewirtzman announced recently that he would be retiring, he was deluged with letters and cards from parents and children alike, thanking him for his decades of service. Some parents of current patients were cared for years ago by Gewirtzman when they were children themselves.

While seated in his living room near Ambler, I could not help but notice the pile of laudatory letters and cards with these sentiments: “Thank you for helping with my body.” “Thanks for all you did for my grandson.” “Your bedside manner and humorous ease are so wonderful.”

Gewirtzman, a native of Brooklyn who was born in 1958 and grew up mostly in Great Neck, Long Island, graduated from Princeton University and New York University Medical School.

“At first,” he said, “I thought I would go into a specialty more cerebral, like nephrology, but when I did the rotations, I liked pediatrics so much that I made an emotional decision. It was the only field I could go into where I would be more mature than my patients.”

“I wanted a private practice in a big city with very well-trained people. I interviewed in New York, D.C. and Philly,” he continued. “At Chestnut Hill Pediatric Group, I could see there was superb patient care. I felt it was a place where I would be comfortable. If you want to be a multi-millionaire, you do not go into pediatrics, but that was never the motivating factor for me.”

What are the biggest changes in his profession over the last 39 years?

“It is very hard to keep an independent medical group now,” Gewirtzman said. The profession has become more corporate. The CH Pediatric Group was around for 25 years, for example, and was then sold to CHOP, although it is still located in Chestnut Hill above the CVS store.”

“Another big change in medicine is vaccine refusal because of horrible pseudo science. Some things are opinions, and some are just data ... ” the doctor said. “In the 1700s, only 30 percent of the population made it to adulthood. One reason life has been extended so much is vaccines, and now we are going backwards.

“I took care of really sick children many years ago. Then vaccines came out. It was a miracle. Now diseases like measles are coming back because of pseudoscience,” Gewirtzman said. “The lies repeated often enough take on a life of their own ... No pediatrician wants to hear the words ‘I’ve done my research’ when that ‘research’ comes from social media. The rate of refusal of vaccines now is much higher now than when I was born in 1958 and got my measles and tetanus shots.”

Gewirtzman will not be idle in his retirement. He does an occasional stand-up comedy act at the Helium Comedy Club. He also has hobbies he described as “nerdy,” including bridge, pickleball and photography. He will be going on a wildlife photo safari to Tanzania in the near future.

Gewirtzman is proud of his parents and grandparents. “My mom’s family fled Poland during the Holocaust,” he said, “and my father was hiding in a farm under a pile of manure. He spent the whole war foraging for food every night. My mom was behind the Russian lines, and my grandfather was a black marketer after the war.” Many distant relatives of Gewirtzman’s parents were killed by the Nazis.

Gewirtzman’s wife, Amy, was editor of Congressional Quarterly but switched careers in the late 1990s and is now a pediatric speech pathologist. They have three children: Jonathan, who just finished a doctorate in environmental science; Naomi, who analyzes data for Democratic Party candidates in New York, and her twin brother, Ari, a union worker in Portland, Oregon.

“I feel very lucky,” Gewirtzman said. “I got to do what I love to do for 39 years!”

Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.