Because Dr. Charles Weispfenning is retiring and Vashon Plaza Medical Clinic is changing hands, the clinic will be closed for all business from Thursday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 11.

Clinic patients needing care during that time are encouraged to call other Island health care providers or 911 if they are experiencing an emergency, according to Deb Rosser, Vashon Plaza Medical Clinic’s manager.

Dr. Chad Magnuson, whose practice is closed to new patients, said he will help as he can, while nurse practitioner Kimberly Scheer said her clinic, the Vashon Women’s Health Center, will be open Mondays through Fridays during that time period.

Meanwhile, Rita Cannell, manager of the Vashon Health Clinic, the Island’s largest health center, said her clinic will also work to make room for any patients who need care. The clinic is only 87 percent full, she said, in part because it added a new doctor — Jeffrey HansPetersen — last year and in part because of the recession.

The clinic will also see anyone after hours in need of urgent care, she said. “We will do our best to make sure … anybody who needs care gets served,” she said.

Weispfenning retired after 36 years of practice on Vashon on Nov. 30. The clinic will reopen Dec. 12 under Dr. Gail Fulton’s ownership.