By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
With Kindred Healthcare announcing recently that its Greenfield facility would be closing, there have been many questions about whether or not the Kindred facility in Burlington would be affected.
Ken Green, administrator at Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation in Burlington, confirmed Tuesday that the Burlington facility did not have its lease renewed with Kindred in the announcement made on Oct. 1.
The Burlington facility is one of 60 that Kindred did not renew leases with Ventas, Inc. – a health care real estate investment trust. The current lease will expire Sept. 30, 2014.
Green was quick to say Tuesday that he expected the facility in Burlington to remain operative.
“September 2014, is a long ways away,” Green said. “I think we’re serving the community well. I wouldn’t get into a real panic.
“We’re committed here, as a team, to take care of patients,” he added.
The facility – formerly Mt. Carmel Care and Rehabilitation – employs more than 100 people, many part time. There are 155 beds in the nursing home, which is certified for both Medicare and Medicaid patients.
Green said that the facility is almost done with a renovation for a private, short-term rehabilitation wing.
“That’s really the niche we serve,” he explained.
There are private rooms available in two units in the facility, and also a 22-bed “Reflections” Unit for Alzheimer’s patients.
Green said specifically that he didn’t have a “crystal ball,” but expected that some operator would probably step into the void left by Ventas.
“We’re doing OK here,” Green said. “There’s always businesses that buy or sell here.
“Kindred, they have a lot of different entities,” he added, saying that the market has shifted more from nursing homes to home health care nursing facilities.
“The market share is split up a lot of different ways,” he added. “But there’s a paradigm shift in health care.
“Hopefully, a good nursing home company will want to enter into a lease and we’ll operate with
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