Martha’s Vineyard is close to losing one of its two free-standing medical centers, potentially leaving more than 1,000 Islanders without a primary care doctor.

The privately-owned Vineyard Medical Care on State Road in Vineyard Haven is on the verge of closure. Dr. Michael Jacobs, who founded the practice in 1985 as Vineyard Medical Services and remains its landlord, said the current owners notified him last month that they will not be renewing their lease in May.

“This is a major crisis for more than 1,000 patients,” said Dr. Jacobs, who retired from medicine in 2014 and sold the business to Michael and Melinda Loberg. “It’s going to be felt by the whole community.”

Mr. Loberg, a chemist who worked in pharmaceutical development and as a manager in the industry, served as president and chief executive officer of the practice, which the couple renamed Vineyard Medical Care.

Mr. Loberg’s own health issues now prevent him from continuing to work, Ms. Loberg told the Gazette, adding that she is not equipped to step into his shoes at Vineyard Medical Care.

Vineyard Medical Care staff members: back row: Dr. Gerry Yukevich, Dr. Bill Tsikitas, Melissa Dolby; front row: Amanda Bettencourt, Anna Jacobs. Dr. Kathleen Koehler, Amanda Pate.

Ray Ewing

Vineyard Medical Care staff members: back row: Dr. Gerry Yukevich, Dr. Bill Tsikitas, Melissa Dolby; front row: Amanda Bettencourt, Anna Jacobs. Dr. Kathleen Koehler, Amanda Pate.

Ray Ewing

“That’s not my background, and it seemed inappropriate for me to continue to run it. It was always his baby,” she said this week.

“We pursued our own personal paths with what we were doing in the community and this was his love,” said Ms. Loberg, who has served on the Dukes County Commission, the Tisbury select board and other town bodies following a long career in adolescent and family therapy.

In addition to owning and running Vineyard Medical Care, the Lobergs also have supported it financially during unprofitable times for the practice, she said.

“It was kind of a community service we were doing, because it’s a tough business,” Ms. Loberg said.

Medical director Dr. James Butterick said he and Ms. Loberg have been trying for months to find a buyer for the practice among the existing local and regional medical organizations. Neither Mass General Brigham, which runs Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, nor Cape Cod Healthcare is in a position to step in and take over, he said.

“There’s no easy solution [and] no obvious partner,” Dr. Butterick said.

Cynthia Mitchell, CEO of the nonprofit Island Health Care in Edgartown, said her organization is researching potential solutions for Vineyard Medical Care’s current patients and the 400 people on its waiting list.

“We are evaluating multiple possibilities — including potentially integrating VMC’s services and patients into IHC’s care model,” Ms. Mitchell wrote in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon.

But it’s a complicated process that will take time to resolve, she said.

Current lease expires in May.

Ray Ewing

Current lease expires in May.

Ray Ewing

“We have to review what the regulatory requirements are going to be [and] our board needs to approve any plan,” Ms. Mitchell said.

Finding a primary care physician on the Vineyard is already a struggle that’s expected to worsen without Vineyard Medical Care. In 2010, there was one primary care doctor for every 870 Dukes County residents, according to nationally-reported county health data.

That gap has since widened to one doctor for every 2,110 people, a ratio worse than the averages for both Massachusetts and the United States as a whole.

Along with Dr. Butterick, whose work is supervisory, the Vineyard Medical Care staff includes doctors Kathleen Koehler, Gerald Yukevich and Bill Tsikitis, and a team of nurses, nurse practitioners and assistants.

The practice provides routine primary care services, such as physical examinations, and handles cases that fall short of needing the emergency department at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Vineyard Medical Care also houses a laboratory, run by Quest Diagnostics, to process patients’ medical tests and drug screenings for employment in law enforcement, the Coast Guard and other fields.

Dr. Jacobs said he is open to any solution that would keep the medical practice in business, including a lease, sale or rent-to-own arrangement. He is not planning to convert the building to another tenancy as long as that remains a possibility, Dr. Jacobs said.

“I’m dedicated to sustaining and keeping the lease of the practice [to] make it available for someone,” he said. “It will be hard, but it’s not impossible.”

Ms. Loberg said she, too, is hoping for a solution, but knows it won’t be simple or quick.

“There’s interest, but it’s complicated,” she said. “Patience is something we’ve got to invoke here.”