After facing a potential closure at the end of the month, Vineyard Medical Care will continue on with a new owner, name and possible expansion. 

Entrepreneur and Vineyard resident Jeff Levy plans to purchase the Vineyard Haven medical practice at the end of May, staving off a closure that would have left 1,000 patients in search of a new provider.

The practice, now called Martha’s Vineyard Medical, will remain as one of the only freestanding medical care facilities left on the Island, which has struggled to provide enough primary care physicians to residents.

Mr. Levy, who lives in West Tisbury, said he was prompted into action after reading about Vineyard Medical Care’s struggles earlier this year.

“I literally read the article in the paper in February that said it was in danger of going out of business,” Mr. Levy said. “I said ‘Oh my god, that can’t happen.’” 

Mr. Levy, who said he chiefly worked in tech but had experience in health care businesses on the mainland, will retain the staff for Martha’s Vineyard Medical, and hoped to hire more nurse practitioners, as well as physician and medical assistants, to help bring in more patients. The mission of the facility off State Road will also stay the same: providing primary care services and allowing walk-in clients. 

To help bolster the business financially, Mr. Levy is interested in attracting more clients by extending hours into the evening one day a week, while also opening on Saturdays. 

“We’re trying to offer hours that are after work,” he said. 

He believed the facility could triple the number of patients to help the people who have been on waiting lists for primary care providers for months, if not years. 

“We can handle 3,000 patients in the facility that we have,” he said. 

As the business seeks to add patients, Mr. Levy also said that it will likely have to raise the cost of services to keep the facility afloat. 

“We are going to have to increase some of our pricing,” he said. “The formula for success is not doing the same thing.” 

The practice opened in 1985 and medical director Jim Butterick was happy to see it remain dedicated to the community. 

“As a cornerstone of our Island’s health and well-being, we are proud to continue providing compassionate care to our primary care and walk-in patients — and we’re excited to expand access for a host of new patients,” he said. “Primary care practices across the country are at a crossroads. We are choosing to expand and innovate in order to meet the growing needs of our community.”