Sunrise Senior Living Inc. has announced it will acquire Trinity Hospice Inc., marking the company’s entry into the fast-growing hospice care industry.

The $71 million acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year. It will make Trinity, which currently is the nation’s eighth largest hospice care provider, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunrise. Based in Dallas, Trinity currently operates 24 hospice programs in nine states.

McLean, VA-based Sunrise offers a full range of personalized senior living services, including independent living, assisted living, care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss. The purchase gives the company the ability to provide hospice services to its residents and eliminates the need to utilize external hospice providers, company officials said.

“Trinity is a perfect complement to our growing portfolio of services enabling seniors to age with dignity,” said Paul Klaassen, chairman and CEO of Sunrise Senior Living. Sunrise operates more than 400 communities in the U.S., Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.