Kindred Hospital to close

Kindred Healthcare Inc. yesterday said it plans to shut its unprofitable 79-bed hospital in Braintree and sell the building.

Kindred Hospital Northeast is likely to close by the end of the year, after its patients have been moved, said Richard A. Lechleiter, executive vice president and chief financial officer at the company's headquarters in Louisville, Ky.

An unspecified number of employees will lose their jobs, though some may be transferred to other Kindred sites, Lechleiter said. He said he didn't know how many work at the hospital.

"The hospital continues to operate," he said. "No other changes will be made until all patients are transferred to other long-term acute care or skilled nursing facilities in the vicinity."

Kindred Healthcare yesterday said it also would dispose of a hospital in Modesto, Calif. The company previously had shut that hospital but continues to run a 64-bed nursing unit in the area.

Kindred Healthcare agreed Thursday to purchase the Braintree property for about $22.3 million from its previous owner, Health Care REIT Inc., a real estate investment trust. It was acquired for resale as part of a strategy to jettison "nonstrategic assets," the company said.

Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com.