My patient's trust, appreciation and hugs

As all of my patients know, I care about you a great deal. During the last year or two, I have noted that many of my patients are thanking me and my staff for the work that we do and how well we take care of them. And recently I have received an incredible number of hugs at the end of my appointments. I think that some of my long time patients became a little nervous when I opened my new office in Saratoga Springs as they realized that perhaps I wouldn't always be around.
This also makes me think about my wife's gynecologist, the great Jonathan Schwartz, who passed away last week. Dr. Schwartz took care of my wife and thousands of other patients over the last 30 years and when the story about his death was announced on Sunday, I am sure that there were many tears from his patients. Dr. Schwartz was among the last of the BELOVED doctors who took care of his patients the exact same way despite the fact that medicine changed to a managed care environment.
As the old saying goes...you don't know what you have till you lose it. But that was not entirely true with Dr. Schwartz...He will be missed by his patients who loved him.