chct-20231231
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
OR
Commission file number: 001-37401
Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
3326 Aspen Grove Drive
Suite 150
Franklin, Tennessee37067
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(615) 771-3052
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class Trading Symbol(s) Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common stock, $0.01 par value per share CHCT New York Stock Exchange
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
(Title of Class)
__________________________________________________
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐No☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ No ☐
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐
Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of
the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.
7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the shares of common stock (based upon the closing price of these shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. on June 30, 2023) of the Registrant held by non-affiliates (for purposes of this calculation, all of the Registrant's directors and executive officers are deemed affiliates of the Registrant) on June 30, 2023 was approximately $847.1 million.
The Registrant had 27,681,163 shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, outstanding as of February 8, 2024.
________________________________
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report. The Registrant expects to file its Definitive Proxy Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2023.
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COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE TRUST INCORPORATED
FORM 10-K
December 31, 2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Part I
Item 1. Business 6
Item 1A. Risk Factors 15
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 48
Item 1C. Cybersecurity 48
Item 2. Properties 50
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 50
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 50
Part II
Item 6. [Reserved] 52
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 65
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 67
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 103
Item 9B. Other Information 106
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 106
Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 107
Item 11. Executive Compensation 107
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 107
Part IV
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules 108
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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We make statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements. In particular, statements pertaining to our capital resources, property performance and results of operations contain forward-looking statements. Likewise, all of our statements regarding anticipated growth in our funds from operations and anticipated market conditions, demographics and results of operations are forward-looking statements. When we use the words “may,” “should,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “seeks,” “assumes,” “projects,” “forecast,” “goal” or similar expressions or their negatives, as well as statements in future tense, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.
Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods which may be incorrect or imprecise and we may not be able to realize them. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all). The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements:
•effects on global and national markets as well as businesses resulting from increased inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, labor conditions, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and/or new and ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas;
•defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants;
•adverse economic or real estate developments, either nationally or in the markets in which our properties are located;
•decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates;
•difficulties in identifying healthcare properties to acquire and completing acquisitions;
•our ability to make distributions on our shares of stock;
•our dependence upon key personnel whose continued service is not guaranteed;
•our ability to identify, hire and retain highly qualified personnel in the future;
•the degree and nature of our competition;
•general economic conditions;
•the availability, terms and deployment of debt and equity capital;
•general volatility of the market price of our common stock;
•changes in our business or strategy;
•changes in governmental regulations, tax rates and similar matters;
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•new laws or regulations or changes in existing laws and regulations that may adversely affect the healthcare industry;
•trends or developments in the healthcare industry that may adversely affect our tenants;
•competition for acquisition opportunities;
•our failure to successfully develop, integrate and operate acquired properties and operations;
•our ability to operate as a public company;
•changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”);
•our failure to generate sufficient cash flows to service our outstanding indebtedness;
•fluctuations in interest rates and increased operating costs;
•our increased vulnerability economically due to the concentration of our investments in healthcare properties;
•a substantial portion of our revenue is derived from our largest tenants and thus, the bankruptcy, insolvency or weakened financial position of any one of them could seriously harm our operating results and financial condition;
•geographic concentrations in Texas, Ohio, and Illinois cause us to be particularly exposed to downturns in these local economies or other changes in local real estate market conditions;
•lack of or insufficient amounts of insurance;
•acts of God, earthquakes, hurricanes, climate change and other natural disasters, acts of war, and acts of terrorism (any of which may result in uninsured losses);
•other factors affecting the real estate industry generally;
•our failure to maintain our qualification as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes;
•limitations imposed on our business and our ability to satisfy complex rules in order for us to maintain our status as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes; and
•changes in governmental regulations or interpretations thereof, such as real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates and taxation of REITs.
While forward-looking statements reflect our good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, except as required by applicable law. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could impact our future results, performance or transactions, see “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors."
Unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, references above or in this report to "we," "us," "our," "the Company," "our Company," and "Community Healthcare Trust" refer to Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated, a Maryland corporation organized to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, together with its
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consolidated subsidiaries, including Community Healthcare OP, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, or our "operating partnership" or our "OP," of which we are the sole general partner and own 100% of its interests.
PART I.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
We are a fully-integrated healthcare real estate company organized as a corporation in the State of Maryland on March 28, 2014. We own and acquire real estate properties that are leased to hospitals, doctors, healthcare systems or other healthcare service providers.
Real Estate Investments
As of December 31, 2023, we had gross investments of approximately $1.1 billion in 193 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a sales-type lease with a gross amount totaling approximately $3.0 million and two properties classified as held for sale with an aggregate amount totaling approximately $7.5 million). The properties are located in 34 states, totaling approximately 4.3 million square feet in the aggregate and were approximately 91.1% leased, excluding real estate assets held for sale, at December 31, 2023 with a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately 6.9 years. The Company’s real estate investments by property type, geographic area, and customer are detailed in Note 2 – Real Estate Investments to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The following table shows the diversification by property types based on annualized rent.
Number of Properties Annualized Rent (%)
Medical Office Building (MOB) 93 37.0 %
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF) 8 18.8 %
Acute Inpatient Behavioral (AIB) 5 14.2 %
Specialty Centers (SC) 37 11.2 %
Physician Clinics (PC) 30 7.8 %
Behavioral Specialty Facilities (BSF) 9 5.1 %
Surgical Centers and Hospitals (SCH) 10 4.3 %
Long-term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACH) 1 1.6 %
Total real estate investments 193 100.0 %
Customer Concentrations
The Company's real estate portfolio is leased to a diverse tenant base. Our tenants include many nationally recognized healthcare providers, such as Adventist HealthCare, Inc., Hospital Corporation of America, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co, Davita, Inc., Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Catholic Healthcare Initiatives, and Lifepoint Health. Lifepoint Health accounted for 11.9% of annualized revenues as of December 31, 2023. We have no control over the success or failure of our tenants' businesses and, at any time, any of our tenants may experience a downturn in their businesses that may weaken their financial condition.
Geographic Concentrations
The Company's portfolio is currently located in 34 states with 39.6% of our annualized rent as of December 31, 2023 derived from properties located in Texas (16.5%), Illinois (11.9%), and Ohio (11.2%). Such geographic concentrations could expose the Company to certain downturns in the economies of those states or other changes in such states' respective real estate market conditions. Any material change in the current payment programs or regulatory, economic, environmental or competitive conditions in any of these areas could have an effect on our overall business results. In the event of negative economic or other changes in any of these markets, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our shareholders and the trading price of our common shares may be adversely affected. See each of the discussions under Item 1A, "Risk Factors," under the captions "Adverse economic or other conditions in the geographic markets in which we conduct business
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could negatively affect our occupancy levels and rental rates and have a material adverse effect on our operating results," and "A large percentage of our properties are located in Texas, Ohio, and Illinois, and changes in these markets may materially adversely affect us."
2023 Real Estate Investments
During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company acquired 19 real estate properties and one land parcel adjacent to an existing property in our portfolio, in fourteen separate transactions, as detailed in Note 4 – Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Upon acquisition, the properties were 99.2% leased in the aggregate with lease expirations through 2038.
Human Capital Resource Management
As of December 31, 2023, we had 37 employees. All of our employees work at our corporate office in Franklin, Tennessee. Our employees are not members of any labor union, and we consider our relations with our employees to be excellent. We have a stable, but growing workforce with an average tenure of 3.7 years and voluntary employee turnover of approximately 15% during the year ended December 31, 2023. At December 31, 2023, 35% of our employees, 33% of our management team, and 33% of our board of directors were female.
The success of our employees drives the success of the business and supports our goal of long-term value creation for our shareholders. We offer competitive benefits and training programs to develop employees’ expertise and skillsets, use training, communication, appropriate investments and clear corporate policies to strive to provide a safe, harassment-free work environment guided by principles of fair and equal treatment, and prioritize employee engagement. As a result, we believe our employees are committed to building strong, innovative and long-term relationships with each other and with our tenants.
Compensation of our board and management team is structured to closely align their interest with those of our stockholders. From our initial public offering, or IPO, in May 2015 through 2023, our executive officers elected each year to take 100% of their total compensation in restricted stock, subject to an eight-year cliff-vesting period. Beginning in 2024, our executive officers are permitted to take up to 50% of their total compensation in restricted stock. Our board has elected to take the majority of their total compensation in restricted stock, subject to a three-year cliff-vesting period. Also, all of our employees are shareholders in the Company, further aligning their interest with those of our stockholders.
We have adopted a Human Capital Support and Development Policy and a Human Rights Policy to support our employees and tenants with a safe and healthy environment. These policies are posted on the Investor Relations tab of the Company’s website (www.chct.reit).
Competitive Strengths
We believe our management team's significant healthcare, real estate and public REIT management experience distinguishes us from other REITs and real estate operators, both public and private. Specifically, our Company's competitive strengths include, among others:
•Strong, Diversified Portfolio. Our focus is on investing in properties where we can develop strategic alliances with financially sound healthcare providers that offer need-based healthcare services in our target markets. Our tenant base includes many nationally recognized healthcare providers (or their affiliates) and our property portfolio has significant diversification with respect to healthcare provider, industry segment, and facility type.
•Attractive and Disciplined Investment Focus. We focus on healthcare facilities in our target submarkets which are off-market or lightly marketed transactions at purchase prices generally between $3 million and $30 million. We believe there is significantly less competition from existing REITs and institutional buyers for assets in these target submarkets than for comparable urban assets, thereby increasing the potential for more attractive risk-adjusted returns. In addition, we believe that healthcare-related real estate rents and valuations are less susceptible to changes in the general economy than many other types of commercial real
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estate due to favorable demographic trends and the need-based rise in healthcare expenditures, even during economic downturns.
•Extensive Relationships with Healthcare Providers, Intermediaries and Property Owners. We believe that our management team has a strong reputation among, and a deep understanding of the real estate needs of, healthcare providers in our target submarkets. In addition, we have strategic relationships which we believe gives us the ability to meet the needs of healthcare providers by structuring transactions that are mutually advantageous to sellers, our tenants and us. We believe this ability has led to, and will continue to lead to, strategic acquisition opportunities, which will, in turn, produce attractive risk-adjusted returns. None of our properties to date were acquired pursuant to "calls for offers" or other auction style bidding situations. We believe our relationships provide us with additional off-market or lightly marketed acquisition opportunities, thus providing us the opportunity to continue to purchase assets outside a competitive bidding process.
•Experienced Management Team. Our executive management team averages over 25 years of healthcare, real estate and/or public REIT management experience on average. Led by David H. Dupuy, Chief Executive Officer and President, William G. Monroe IV, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Leigh Ann Stach, our Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, and Timothy L. Meyer, our Executive Vice President, Asset Management, our management team has significant experience in acquiring, owning, operating and managing healthcare facilities and providing full service real estate solutions for the healthcare industry. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Dupuy was a Managing Director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (Truist Securities) where he led investment banking coverage of healthcare facilities and REITs and held positions in healthcare banking at Bank of America. Mr. Monroe has experience in healthcare investment banking. Ms. Stach has experience in public healthcare REIT accounting and financial reporting. Mr. Meyer has experience in real estate and asset management in public healthcare REITs.
•Growth Oriented Capital Structure. At December 31, 2023, we had $50.0 million outstanding on our revolving credit facility and had $350.0 million outstanding on our term loans under our first amendment to the third amended and restated credit agreement, dated as of December 14, 2022, by and among Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated, as borrower, the several banks and financial institutions party thereto as lenders, and Truist Bank, as administrative agent (collectively, our "Credit Facility") with a 36.1% debt-to-total capitalization ratio (debt plus stockholders' equity plus accumulated depreciation). In the future, in addition to equity and debt issuances, we may also use OP units of our operating partnership as currency to acquire additional properties from owners seeking to defer their potential taxable gain and diversify their holdings. We believe that the borrowing capacity under our Credit Facility, combined with our ability to use OP units as acquisition currency, provides us with significant financial flexibility to make opportunistic investments and fund future growth.
•Significant Alignment of Interests. We have structured the compensation of our board and management team to closely align their interests with the interests of our stockholders. From our IPO in May 2015 through 2023, our executive officers elected each year to take 100% of their total compensation in restricted stock, subject to an eight-year cliff-vesting period. Beginning in 2024, our executive officers are permitted to take up to 50% of their total compensation in restricted stock. The Company's board of directors have elected to take 91% of their total compensation in restricted stock since the Company's IPO, subject to a three-year cliff-vesting period. We believe that our board and management team receiving restricted stock subject to long-term cliff-vesting periods as a material component of their total compensation effectively aligns the interests of our board and management with those of our stockholders, creating significant incentives to maximize returns for our stockholders. Finally, each executive officer and director has met stock ownership guidelines that require our executive officers and directors to continuously own an amount of our common stock based on a multiple of such officer's annual base salary or such director's annual retainer, as applicable.
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Business Objective
Our principal business objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders through a combination of (i) sustainable and increasing rental income and cash flow that generates reliable, increasing dividends and (ii) potential long-term appreciation in the value of our properties and common stock. Our primary strategies to achieve our business objective are to invest in, own and proactively manage a diversified portfolio of healthcare properties, which we believe will drive reliable, increasing rental revenue and cash flow.
Growth Strategy
We intend to continue to grow our portfolio of healthcare properties primarily through acquisitions of healthcare facilities in our target submarkets that provide stable revenue growth and predictable long-term cash flows. We generally focus on individual acquisition opportunities between $3 million and $30 million in off-market or lightly marketed transactions and do not intend to participate in competitive bidding or auctions of properties. We believe that there are abundant opportunities to acquire attractive healthcare properties in our target markets either from third-party owners of existing healthcare facilities or directly with healthcare providers through sale-leaseback transactions. We believe there is significantly less competition from existing REITs and institutional buyers for assets in these target submarkets than for comparable urban assets, thereby increasing the potential for attractive risk-adjusted returns. Furthermore, we may acquire healthcare properties on a non-cash basis in a tax efficient manner through the issuance of OP units as consideration for the transaction.
We intend for our investment portfolio to be diversified among healthcare facility type and segments such as medical office buildings, physician clinics, surgical centers and hospitals, specialty centers, behavioral facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term acute care hospitals, as well as being diverse both geographically and with respect to our tenant base. We seek to invest in properties where we can develop strategic alliances with financially-sound healthcare providers that offer need-based healthcare services in our target markets.
In connection with our review and consideration of healthcare real estate acquisition opportunities, we generally take into account a variety of considerations, including but not limited to:
•whether the property will be leased to a financially-sound healthcare tenant;
•the historical performance of the market and its future prospects;
•property location, with an emphasis on proximity to a population base;
•demand for healthcare related services and facilities;
•current and future supply of competing properties;
•occupancy and rental rates in the market;
•population density and growth potential;
•anticipated capital expenditures;
•anticipated future acquisition opportunities; and
•existing and potential competition from other healthcare real estate owners and tenants.
We currently have no intention to invest in companies that provide healthcare services structured to comply with the REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act of 2007, or RIDEA.
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We operate so as to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, we are not subject to corporate federal income tax with respect to taxable income distributed to our stockholders. We have also elected two subsidiaries to be treated as taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRSs"), which are subject to federal and state income taxes.
Tax Status
We have qualified as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes since 2015, the year we began operations, and we expect that we will remain qualified as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the year ending December 31, 2024. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, various complex requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and values of our assets, our distribution levels and the diversity of ownership of our capital stock. We believe that we are organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification as a REIT under the Code and that our manner of operations will enable us to continue to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes for the year ending December 31, 2024.
As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income that we distribute currently to our stockholders. Under the Code, REITs are subject to numerous organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that they distribute on an annual basis at least 90% of their REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, our income for that year will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates, and we would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to qualify as a REIT. Even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may still be subject to state and local taxes on our income and assets and to U.S. federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income. Additionally, any income earned by Community Healthcare Trust Services, Inc. and CHCT Holdings, Inc., our TRSs, and any other TRSs that we form or acquire in the future will be fully subject to U.S. federal, state and local corporate income tax. See Government Regulation and Legislative Developments below for a discussion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Affordable Care Act” or "ACA") for a discussion of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"), enacted on December 22, 2017, which reduced the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018.
Government Regulation
Our healthcare tenants and their operators are subject to extensive federal, state and local government legislation and regulation. Federal laws, including but not limited to the Affordable Care Act; laws intended to combat fraud and waste such as the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Physician Self-Referral Law, False Claims Act; Medicare and Medicaid laws and regulations; and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 may limit our tenants operational flexibility and compensation arrangements. Many states have analogous laws which may be broader than their federal counterparts, including state licensure laws, fraud and abuse laws, privacy rules, and Medicaid requirements. Compliance with these regulatory requirements can increase operating costs and, thereby, adversely affect the financial viability of our tenants’ businesses. Our tenants’ failure to comply with these laws and regulations could adversely affect their ability to successfully operate our properties, which could negatively impact their ability to satisfy their contractual obligations to us. As a landlord, we intend for all of our business activities and operations to conform in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, including healthcare laws and regulations. Our leases require the tenants and operators to comply with all applicable laws, including healthcare laws. However, we do not have any ability to audit nor do we independently verify such compliance.
These laws subject tenant healthcare facilities and practices to requirements related to reimbursement, licensing and certification policies, ownership of facilities, addition or expansion of facilities and services, pricing and billing for services, compliance obligations (including those governing the security, use and disclosure of confidential patient information) and fraud and abuse laws. These laws and regulations are wide-ranging and complex, may vary or overlap from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and are subject frequently to change. Healthcare facilities may also be affected by changes in accreditation standards or in the procedures of the accrediting agencies that are recognized by
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governments in the certification process. In addition, expansion (including the addition of new beds or services or the acquisition of medical equipment) and occasionally the discontinuation of services of healthcare facilities may be subject to state regulatory approval through certificate of need programs. This may impact the ability of our tenants to expand their businesses. Different tenants may be more or less subject to certain types of regulation, some of which are specific to the type of facility or provider. We cannot predict the degree to which these changes, or changes to the federal healthcare programs in general, may affect the economic performance of some or all of our tenants, positively or negatively. We expect healthcare providers to continue to adjust to new operating and reimbursement challenges, as they have in the past, by increasing operating efficiency and modifying their strategies to profitably grow operations.
There are various state and federal laws that may apply to investors including U.S. federal and state anti-kickback, self-referral, and fee-splitting statutes, which limit physician referrals to entities in which the physician has a financial relationship and otherwise govern financial arrangements with healthcare providers. States vary in the types of entities, if any, that their laws cover. Investment interests in those facilities may, in certain instances, prohibit referrals to the entity by physician investors. Physician investors may also face disciplinary action from licensure boards for referrals to entities in which the physician has an investment interest. Some states require disclosure of the financial relationship before referral by any physician investors, while others prohibit referrals entirely. These state laws and regulations may be broader than their federal counterparts and are the subject of state enforcement. Many state laws contain exemptions for investments in publicly traded companies provided certain requirements are met. These exemption requirements may include listing on a national stock exchange or maintaining a minimum asset value. Meeting some of these requirements may be dependent on market forces or otherwise outside our control.
Changes in laws and regulations, reimbursement enforcement activity and regulatory non-compliance by our tenants and operators can all have a significant effect on their operations and financial condition, which in turn may adversely impact us, as detailed below and set forth under Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” under the caption “The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and new laws or regulations, changes to existing laws or regulations, changes to reimbursement models or structure, loss of licensure or failure to obtain licensure could adversely impact our company and result in the inability of our tenants to make rent payments to us.” We highlight below several of the more complex laws; however, this is an overview, as the complexities of the laws impacting tenants are varied and extensive.
The Affordable Care Act has continued to change how healthcare services are covered, delivered and reimbursed. The Affordable Care Act includes payment reform provisions intended to drive Medicare towards more value-based purchasing which, in turn, increases accountability for healthcare providers for the quality and costs of the healthcare services they provide. While more individuals now carry healthcare coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, the full effects of the changes to reimbursement models for both public and commercial coverage continue to evolve. Each kind of healthcare provider tenant has a different and complex set of laws related to reimbursement and reimbursement models, which may affect the tenant’s ability to collect revenues and meet the terms of their leases. Such varying reimbursement models and laws impact each kind of provider as well as the healthcare system as a whole. For example, for physicians, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") issues annual updates to the physician fee schedule that can have a material impact (either positive or negative) on the amount of reimbursement that physicians earn; for ambulatory surgery centers, the Affordable Care Act introduced provisions that reduce the annual inflation update for payment rates by a “productivity adjustment,” which may result in a decrease in Medicare payment rates for the same procedures in a given year compared to the prior year. Other changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act could negatively impact reimbursement for any one of the kind of provider tenants as outlined below.
The Affordable Care Act also altered reimbursement from private insurers and managed care organizations. Networks continue to readjust, and all providers must ensure adequate market share in their respective areas to remain in the network created by many of the managed care organizations. Under the Affordable Care Act prior to the Trump Administration, individuals were required to obtain coverage or pay a penalty resulting in millions of more Americans obtaining coverage, usually through the healthcare exchanges (called the Marketplace) established to provide coverage in each state. The Trump Administration and Congress removed this mandate beginning in
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2019. The Trump Administration had also loosened rules to allow greater flexibility among insurers in the benefits offered, both lowering the costs of some plans but also limiting the coverage such plans offer. It is unclear at this time if increased competition from low-cost plans will damage the Marketplace, and how these changes will affect coverage rates in any particular state or locale. While the Trump Administration had decreased its focus on repealing the Affordable Care Act, a December 2018 federal court ruled the law unconstitutional. This decision was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which issued a decision in December 2019 finding the insurance mandate unconstitutional and remanded the case to the District Court to consider the constitutionality of the rest of the law. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in November 2020. The Court issued a decision in June 2021 dismissing the case for lack of standing. The decision did not address the merits of the lawsuit and the legality of the ACA, but the decision effectively ends the case. Through Executive Orders issued January 28, 2021, the Biden Administration signaled its strong support for the Affordable Care Act by taking steps to reverse various actions by the Trump Administration and to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Both the Biden Administration and Congress are considering ways to strengthen coverage under the Affordable Care Act by increasing the subsidies available to purchasers of health plans through the insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. These efforts have resulted in more than 16 million Americans enrolling in ACA health plans and an additional 14 million low-income Americans being enrolled in the ACA’s Medicaid expansion coverage from a pre-ACA baseline. Other Biden Administration legislative initiatives and policies have been implemented in an attempt to expand access to health care coverage. For example, on August 22, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was signed into law and extended increased premium subsidies available in the ACA marketplaces through 2025, which prevents an estimated 2 million individuals from losing coverage. In addition, on October 11, 2022, the IRS issued a final rule changing how affordability of coverage and minimum value is determined for an employee’s relatives under the ACA. Specifically, the new rule provides for a separate affordability test where an eligible employer-sponsored plan is affordable for an employee’s relative if the employee’s required contribution for family coverage under the plan does not exceed 9.5% of the employee’s household income. Previously, health coverage affordability and adequacy had been measured solely for the employee, but not for coverage of the employee’s family. The Biden Administration estimates that this policy change will provide coverage for an additional 200,000 individuals, and nearly 1 million people will have access to lower premiums. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' data shows continued growth in access to care under the ACA, with over 20 million people selecting an ACA Marketplace plan in the 2024 Open Enrollment Period, including over 3.7 million people who were new to ACA Marketplace plans. While we expect that the Biden Administration will continue efforts to expand access to healthcare, we cannot predict the effect on us and/or our tenants of any future action by the Biden Administration and/or Congress with respect to the Affordable Care Act and other aspects of the healthcare system.
Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 lowered Medicare rates, effective January 1, 2017, for services provided in off-campus, provider-based outpatient departments, to the same level of rates for physician-office settings. Section 603 does not apply to facilities that billed at the lower Medicare rates on or before November 2, 2015 (the "grandfather clause") or that had a binding written agreement in place for the construction of the off-campus site before November 2, 2015 (the "mid-build exemption"). Section 603 reflects movement by the Congress and CMS toward “site-neutral reimbursement” where Medicare rates across different facility-type settings are equalized. CMS implemented these changes beginning January 1, 2017. Beginning January 1, 2019, CMS also implemented site neutral changes in Medicare reimbursement for clinic visits provided in off-campus locations that were previously exempted from payment reductions. While such site neutral changes are expected to lower overall Medicare spending, our medical office buildings located on hospital campuses could become more valuable as hospital tenants keep their higher Medicare rates for on-campus outpatient services. However, other laws may limit the extent to which higher rents may be charged based on proximity to a hospital. Ultimately, we cannot predict the amount of benefit from these measures or if future legislation will ultimately require similar site neutral changes in Medicare reimbursement rates for services provided in other facility-type settings.
Legislative Developments
Each year, legislative proposals for health policy are introduced in Congress and state legislatures, and regulatory changes are enacted by government agencies. These proposals, individually or in the aggregate, could significantly
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change the delivery of healthcare services, either nationally or at the state level, if implemented. Examples of significant legislation currently under consideration, recently enacted or in the process of implementation, include:
•the Affordable Care Act and proposed amendments and any further repeal measures and related actions at the federal and state level;
•the 2019 repeal of a portion of the Affordable Care Act for the mandate that all individuals purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty;
•mandatory expansion of healthcare services and increased access to individual healthcare insurance through legislative initiatives, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022;
•quality control, cost containment, and payment system reforms for Medicaid, Medicare and other public funding, such as expansion of pay-for-performance criteria and value-based purchasing programs, bundled provider payments, accountable care organizations, increased patient cost-sharing, geographic payment variations, comparative effectiveness research, and lower payments for hospital readmissions;
•implementation of health insurance exchanges and regulations governing their operation, whether run by the state or by the federal government, whereby individuals and small businesses purchase health insurance, including government-funded plans, many assisted by federal subsidies that are under ongoing legal challenges;
•equalization of Medicare payment rates across different facility-type settings (i.e., the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Section 603, lowered Medicare payment rates, effective January 1, 2017, for services provided in off-campus, provider-based outpatient departments to the same level of rates for physician-office settings for those facilities not grandfathered-in under the current Medicare rates as of the law’s date of enactment, November 2, 2015 and beginning January 1, 2019, CMS implemented site neutral changes in Medicare reimbursement for clinic visits provided in off-campus locations that were previously exempted from payment reductions);
•the continued adoption by providers of federal standards for, and the associated audits of, the meaningful-use of electronic health records and the transition to ICD-10 coding;
•the continued effort to expand the utilization of telehealth services;
•implementation of federal rules requiring healthcare providers and third party payors to comply with electronic health system interoperability rules intended to allow for more efficient sharing of healthcare data;
•changes made by the Biden Administration to reverse actions taken by the Trump Administration that impacted enrollment in health insurance exchanges and Medicaid;
•a continuing trend of provider consolidation and associated antitrust scrutiny;
•tax law changes affecting non-profit providers, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017's effect on charitable contributions;
•regulatory changes designed to address health equity and disparities as a critical aspect of health and health care; and
•regulatory and legislative changes related to the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
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Environmental Matters
As an owner of real estate, we are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and ordinances and also could be liable to third parties as a result of environmental contamination or noncompliance at our properties even if we no longer own such properties. See the discussion under Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” under the caption “Environmental compliance costs and liabilities associated with owning and leasing our properties may affect our results of operations.”
We have adopted a Corporate Environmental Policy, which sets forth our commitment to implementing environmentally sustainable best practices for our own operations, and to assist our tenants in their efforts to address their environmental concerns. Implementation of our Corporate Environmental Policy is the responsibility of our executive management and is overseen by our Board of Directors. As an owner of real estate, we recognize the physical risk to our assets stemming from climate change. We cannot predict the rate at which climate change will progress. However, the physical effects of climate change could have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations, and business. To the extent that climate change impacts weather patterns, our markets could experience severe weather, including hurricanes, severe winter storms, wildfires, droughts, and tornadoes due to increases in storm intensity and unpredictable weather patterns. Over time, these conditions could result in declining demand for space at our properties, delays in construction and resulting increased construction costs, or in our inability to operate the buildings at all. Climate change and severe weather may also have indirect effects on our business by increasing the cost of, or decreasing the availability of, property insurance on terms we find acceptable, and by increasing the costs of energy, maintenance, repair of water and/or wind damage, and snow removal at our properties. We continue to evaluate our asset base for potential exposure to the following climate-related risks: increases in heavy rain, flood, drought, extreme heat, tornadoes and wildfire. As a part of our risk management program, we purchase property insurance to mitigate the risk of extreme weather events and natural disasters. However, our insurance may not adequately cover all of our potential losses. As a result, there can be no assurance that climate change and severe weather will not have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations, or business. As such, executive management reports to the Board of Directors on a regular basis, addressing policy and disclosure changes including environmental and climate-related risks and opportunities. Our Corporate Environmental Policy is posted on the Investor Relations tab of our website (www.chct.reit).
Competition
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities for acquisitions of healthcare properties, including national, regional and local operators, acquirers and developers of healthcare-related real estate properties. The competition for healthcare-related real estate properties may significantly increase the price that we must pay for healthcare properties or other assets that we seek to acquire, and our competitors may succeed in acquiring those properties or assets themselves. In addition, our potential acquisition targets may find our competitors to be more attractive because they may have greater resources, may be willing to pay more for the properties or may have a more compatible operating philosophy. In particular, larger REITs that target healthcare properties may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital, enhanced operating efficiencies, more personnel and market penetration and familiarity with markets. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investment properties may increase. Increased competition would result in increased demand for the same assets and therefore increase prices paid for them. Those higher prices for healthcare properties or other assets may adversely affect our returns from our investments.
Insurance
We carry comprehensive liability insurance and property insurance covering our properties. In addition, tenants under long-term single-tenant net leases are required to carry property insurance covering our interest in the buildings.
Seasonality
Our business has not been, and we do not expect it to become, subject to material seasonal fluctuations.
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Available Information
The Company makes available to the public free of charge through its internet website the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement, Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after the Company electronically files such reports with, or furnishes such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Company’s internet website address is www.chct.reit.
Corporate Governance Guidelines
The Company has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines relating to the conduct and operations of the Board of Directors. The Corporate Governance Guidelines are posted on the Company’s website (www.chct.reit) and are available in print to any stockholder who requests a copy.
Committee Charters
The Board of Directors has an Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Environmental, Social, and Governance Committee. The Board of Directors has adopted written charters for each committee which are posted on the Company’s website (www.chct.reit) and are available in print to any stockholder who requests a copy.
Corporate Responsibility
The Company is committed to conducting its business according to the highest ethical standards and upholding its corporate responsibilities as a public company operating for the benefit of its stockholders. To that end, the Company modified its Governance Committee to be the Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) Committee with a revised charter included on the Company’s website at www.chct.reit. Among other duties, the ESG Committee meets at least annually to review and recommend to the Board the general strategy and initiatives regarding ESG matters, including the Company’s internal and external communications and disclosures.
The Company’s Board of Directors has adopted a revised Code of Ethics and Business Conduct that not only applies to its directors, officers, and other employees but also extends the Company's expectations that its vendors, service providers, contractors, and consultants will embrace the Company's commitment to integrity and personal responsibility by complying with this Code at all times. The Code of Ethics and Business Conduct includes the Company’s commitment to promote high standards of integrity by conducting its affairs honestly and ethically and to include in its periodic reports or other publicly available documents information and metrics related to internal monitoring, whistleblower, or reporting systems.
The Company’s whistleblower policy prohibits the Company and its affiliates and their officers, employees and agents from discharging, demoting, suspending, threatening, harassing or in any other manner discriminating against any employee for raising a concern. If an employee desires to raise a concern in a confidential or anonymous manner, the concern may be directed to the whistleblower officer at the Company’s whistleblower hotline. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the whistleblower officer received no whistleblower complaints.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risk Factor Summary
Investing in our common stock involves a degree of risk. You should carefully consider all information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K prior to investing in our common stock. These risks are discussed more fully below in the section titled “Risk Factors.” These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following:
•General economic conditions can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.
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•Failure to implement strategies to enhance our performance could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial conditions.
•Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to make successful real estate acquisitions at fair prices and to integrate these acquisitions into our operations, and the failure to do so can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.
•If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows.
•Our ability to perform depends on keeping and hiring exceptionally talented management and employees, and our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenues, results of operations and financial condition.
•Risks associated with a pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of a contagious disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on global markets, may adversely affect our revenues, results of operations and financial condition.
•Our tenants are subject to significant regulatory oversight, and changes in any of the laws and regulations applicable to their business could adversely impact our tenants’ ability to make rent payments to us, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenues, results of operations and financial conditions.
•Climate change may adversely affect our business due to new weather patterns or the occurrence of significant weather events which could impact economic activity or the value of our properties in specific markets.
•Our properties generate rent revenue, and any adverse impacts on our properties, including, but not limited to, inability to secure funds for future tenant or other capital improvements or payment of leasing commissions, a requirement to make rent or other concessions and significant capital expenditures to improve our properties in order to retain and attract tenants, property vacancies, increases in property taxes, uninsured damages to or total losses of our properties, or health and safety or environmental violations, could have a material adverse effect on our properties, revenues, results of operations and financial condition.
•We primarily fund our acquisitions through our Credit Facility and equity offerings, and any inability to utilize our Credit Facility or access capital markets at favorable terms and rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial conditions.
•We qualify as a REIT under the Code, and the failure to remain qualified as a REIT would have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, ability to pay distributions and the market price of our common stock.
The following discussion of risk factors contains forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be important to understanding other statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and we direct you to read our statement about forward-looking statements under the title “Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following information should be read in conjunction with Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion And Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risk and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we presently deem less significant may also impair our business operations. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risk factors actually occur, our business, operating results, financial condition, cash flows, and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
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The business, financial condition and operating results of the Company can be affected by a number of factors, whether currently known or unknown, including but not limited to those described below, any one or more of which could, directly or indirectly, cause the Company’s actual financial condition and operating results to vary materially from past, or from anticipated future, financial condition and operating results. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition, operating results and stock price.
Because of the following factors, as well as other factors affecting the Company’s financial condition and operating results, past financial performance should not be considered to be a reliable indicator of future performance, and investors should not use historical trends to anticipate results or trends in future periods.
Risks Related to Our Business
Inflation and the U.S. government’s response thereto could adversely impact our tenants and our operations.
Inflation, both real or anticipated, could adversely affect the economy and the costs of labor, goods and services to our tenants. Increased operating costs resulting from inflation could have an adverse impact on our tenants if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in their revenue, which may adversely affect our tenants’ ability to pay rent or other obligations owed to us. In response to inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in 2022 and 2023, and these increases may continue in 2024 and beyond. Increases in interest rates will increase interest cost on existing variable rate debt, including our Credit Facility. Such increases in the cost of capital could adversely impact our ability to finance operations and acquire properties. Increased interest rates may also result in less liquid property markets, limiting our ability to sell existing assets.
Our real estate investments are concentrated in healthcare properties, making us more vulnerable economically than if our investments were diversified in other segments of the economy.
We acquire, own, manage, operate and selectively develop properties for lease primarily to physicians and healthcare delivery systems. We are subject to risks inherent in concentrating investments in real estate, and the risks resulting from a lack of diversification is even greater as a result of our business strategy to concentrate our investments in the healthcare sector. Any adverse effects that result from these risks could be more pronounced than if we diversified our investments outside of healthcare properties. Given our concentration in this sector, our tenant base is especially concentrated and dependent upon the healthcare industry generally, and any industry downturn could adversely affect the ability of our tenants to make lease payments and our ability to maintain current rental and occupancy rates. Our tenant mix could become even more concentrated if a significant portion of our tenants practice in a particular medical field or are reliant upon a particular healthcare delivery system. Accordingly, a downturn in the healthcare industry generally, or in the healthcare related facility specifically, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our shareholders and the market price of our common shares.
Given our dependence on rental revenue, failure by our major tenants to make rental payments to us, because of a deterioration of their financial condition, a termination of their leases, a non-renewal of their leases or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our income is derived from rental revenue from real property. As a result, our performance depends on our ability to collect rents from tenants. At any time, our tenants may experience a downturn in their businesses that may significantly weaken their financial condition, whether as a result of general economic conditions or otherwise. As a result, our tenants may fail to make rental payments when due, delay lease commencements, decline to extend or renew leases upon expiration or declare bankruptcy or be subject to involuntary insolvency proceedings. Any of these actions could result in the termination of the tenants’ leases or the failure to renew a lease and the loss of rental income attributable to the terminated leases. The occurrence of any of the situations described above could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, or the market price of our common stock.
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We may be unable to source off-market or lightly marketed deal flow in the future, which may have a material adverse effect on our growth.
A key component of our investment strategy is to acquire additional healthcare properties in off-market or lightly marketed transactions, relying on our officers’ relationships with healthcare providers and real estate brokers. We seek to acquire properties before they are widely marketed by real estate brokers. As we expect to compete with many national, regional and local acquirers of healthcare properties, properties that are acquired in off-market or lightly marketed transactions are typically more attractive to us as a purchaser because of the absence of a formal sales process, which could lead to higher prices. In the formal sales process, our potential acquisition targets may find our competitors to be more attractive because they may have greater resources, may be willing to pay more for the properties or may have a more compatible operating philosophy. In particular, larger REITs, including publicly traded and privately held REITs, private equity investors or institutional investment funds who are targeting healthcare properties may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital, enhanced operating efficiencies, more risk tolerance, more personnel and market penetration and familiarity with markets. As such, if we do not have access to off-market or lightly marketed deal flow in the future, our ability to locate and acquire additional properties in our target submarkets at attractive prices could be materially and adversely affected, which could materially impede our growth, and, as a result, adversely affect our operating results.
We depend on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key employees, the loss of any of whom could adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, and stock price.
Our success depends, to a significant extent, on the continued services of Mr. David H. Dupuy, our Chief Executive Officer and President, Mr. William G. Monroe IV, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Leigh Ann Stach, our Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, and Mr. Timothy L. Meyer, our Executive Vice President, Asset Management. Each executive officer has significant experience in the healthcare and/or real estate industry and have all developed significant relationships with various healthcare providers and real estate brokers throughout the United States. Our ability to continue to acquire and develop healthcare properties in off-market or lightly marketed transactions depends upon the significant relationships that our senior management team has developed over many years. The loss of services of our senior management or other key employees for any reason or for any amount of time could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our strategic objectives and negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and stock price.
Although we have entered into employment agreements with Messrs. Dupuy, Monroe and Meyer and Ms. Stach, we cannot provide any assurance that any of them will remain employed by us. Our ability to retain our executive officers, or to attract suitable replacements should any member of the senior management team leave, is dependent on the competitive nature of the employment market. The loss of services of, or the failure to successfully integrate one or more new members of, our senior management team could adversely affect our business and our prospects.
In addition, we have recently observed an overall tightening and increasingly competitive labor market. Our business could be adversely affected by an inability to retain personnel or upward pressure on wages as a result of the competitive labor market.
We may be unable to complete any pending acquisitions, which would adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, earnings and cash flow, and even if acquisitions are completed, we may fail to successfully operate acquired properties.
We cannot assure you that we will complete any pending acquisitions on the terms described in this report or other reports the Company may file or furnish in future SEC filings, because these transactions are subject to a variety of conditions, including, in the case of properties under contract, the execution of a mutually agreed-upon lease between us and the proposed tenant, our satisfactory completion of due diligence and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. We may determine through due diligence that the prospective facility does not meet our investment standards and there is no assurance that we will successfully close an acquisition once a purchase agreement has been signed. These transactions, whether or not successful, require substantial time and attention from management. Furthermore, the pending acquisitions require significant expense, including expenses for due diligence, legal and accounting fees and other costs. If we are unable to complete any potential acquisitions, we
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would still incur the costs associated with pursuing those investments but would not generate the revenues and net operating income that we currently anticipate, which would adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our common shares. Additionally, failure to close acquisitions under contract or in our investment pipeline could restrict our growth opportunities.
In addition, there is no assurance that we will fully realize the potential benefits of any past or future acquisition or strategic transaction. We are exposed to the risk that our future acquisitions may not prove to be successful. We could encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any acquired properties, including contingent liabilities, and newly acquired properties might require significant attention of the Company's management that would otherwise be devoted to our existing business.
We may obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property, which, in turn, would only provide us with limited recourse against the seller if issues arise after our purchase of a property.
The seller of a property often sells such property in its “as is” condition on a “where is” basis and “with all faults,” without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase and sale agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. The purchase of properties with limited warranties increases the risk of having little or no recourse against a seller if issues were to arise at such property. This, in turn, could cause us to have to write off our investment in the property, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders and the trading price of our common stock.
We may be unable to successfully acquire properties and expand our operations into new or existing target submarkets.
A component of our strategy is to pursue acquisitions of properties in new and existing target submarkets. These acquisitions could divert our officers’ attention from other pending and/or potential acquisitions, and we may be unable to retain key employees or attract highly qualified new employees in those markets. In addition, we may not possess familiarity with the dynamics and prevailing conditions of any new target submarkets, which could adversely affect our ability to successfully expand into or operate within those markets. For example, new target submarkets may have different insurance practices, reimbursement rates and local real estate zoning regulations than those with which we are familiar. We may find ourselves more dependent on third parties in new target submarkets because our physical distance could hinder our ability to directly and efficiently manage and otherwise monitor new properties in new target submarkets. In addition, our expansion into new target submarkets could result in unexpected costs or delays as well as lower occupancy rates and other adverse consequences. We may not be successful in identifying suitable properties or other assets that meet our acquisition criteria or in consummating acquisitions on satisfactory terms or at all for a number of reasons, including, among other things, significant competition from other prospective purchasers in new target submarkets, unsatisfactory results of our due diligence investigations, including potential negative impacts of climate change and extreme weather conditions on the property, failure to obtain financing for the acquisition on favorable terms or at all, and our misjudgment of the value of the opportunities. We may also be unable to successfully integrate the operations of acquired properties, maintain consistent standards, controls, policies and procedures, or realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions within the anticipated timeframe or at all. If we are unsuccessful in expanding into new or our existing target submarkets, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
A pandemic, epidemic, outbreak of a contagious disease, or other health crisis may adversely affect our tenants' financial condition and the profitability of our properties.
Our business and the businesses of our tenants could be materially and adversely affected by the risks, or the public perception of the risks, related to another pandemic or other health crisis, similar to the prior novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Such events could result in the complete or partial closure of one or more of our tenants' facilities, severely disrupt our tenants' operations, and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if such events lead to a significant or prolonged impact on capital or
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credit markets or economic growth, then our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The bankruptcy, insolvency or weakened financial position of our tenants, and particularly our largest tenants, could materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We receive substantially all of our revenue from rent payments from tenants under leases of space in our healthcare properties. We have no control over the success or failure of our tenants’ businesses and, at any time, any of our tenants may experience a downturn in its business that may weaken its financial condition. Additionally, private or governmental payers may lower the reimbursement rates paid to our tenants for their healthcare services. For example, the Affordable Care Act provides for significant reductions to Medicare and Medicaid payments. As a result, our tenants may delay lease commencement or renewal, fail to make rent payments when due or declare bankruptcy. Any leasing delays, tenant failures to make rent payments when due or tenant bankruptcies could result in the termination of the tenant’s lease and, particularly in the case of a large tenant, or a significant number of tenants, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock. In addition, to the extent a tenant vacates specialized space in one of our properties (such as imaging space, ambulatory surgical space, or inpatient hospital space), re-leasing the vacated space could be more difficult than re-leasing less specialized office space, as there are fewer users for such specialized healthcare space in a typical market than for more traditional office space.
Any bankruptcy filings by or relating to one of our tenants could bar all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from that tenant or seize its property, unless we receive an order permitting us to do so from a bankruptcy court, which we may be unable to obtain. A tenant bankruptcy could also delay our efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums. Furthermore, if a tenant rejects the lease while in bankruptcy, we would have only a general unsecured claim for pre-petition damages. Any unsecured claim that we hold may be paid only to the extent that funds are available and only in the same percentage as is paid to all other holders of unsecured claims. It is possible that we may recover substantially less than the full value of any unsecured claims that we hold, if any, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock. Furthermore, dealing with a tenant bankruptcy or other default may divert management’s attention and cause us to incur substantial legal and other costs, which could adversely affect our ability to execute our business strategies, financial condition, and results of operations, as well as our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
For example, in June 2023, one of our tenants, GenesisCare and certain of its affiliates ("GenesisCare") filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Two of GenesisCare's leases with the Company's subsidiaries were rejected pursuant to requests to reject such leases that were approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas during 2023. At December 31, 2023, GenesisCare was the sole tenant in five of our properties and a tenant in two of our multi-tenanted properties, representing approximately 1.9% of our gross real estate properties, or approximately 62,000 square feet.
We cannot predict whether our tenants will renew existing leases beyond their current terms. At December 31, 2023, we had 69 leases scheduled to expire in 2024 and 54 leases scheduled to expire in 2025, which represent 6.9% and 9.2% of our total annualized lease revenue, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2023. If any of our leases are not renewed, or are terminated prior to the contractual expiration date, we would attempt to lease those properties to another tenant at then-current market rates. However, following expiration of a lease term or if we exercise our right to replace a tenant in default, rental payments on the related properties could decline or cease altogether while we reposition the properties with a suitable replacement tenant. As such, we may be required to fund certain expenses and obligations (e.g., real estate taxes, debt costs and maintenance expenses) to preserve the value of, and avoid the imposition of liens on, our properties while they are being repositioned. Furthermore, our ability to reposition our properties with a suitable tenant could be significantly delayed or limited by state licensing, receivership, certificate of need, or CON, or other laws, as well as by the Medicare and Medicaid change-of-ownership rules. We could also incur substantial additional expenses in connection with any licensing, receivership or change-of-ownership proceedings. In addition, our ability to locate suitable replacement tenants could be
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impaired by the specialized healthcare uses or contractual restrictions on use of the properties, and we may be required to spend substantial amounts to adapt the properties to other uses. Any such delays, limitations and expenses could adversely impact our ability to collect rent, obtain possession of leased properties or otherwise exercise remedies for tenant default and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
All of these risks may be greater in the target submarkets on which we focus, where there may be fewer potential replacement tenants, making it more difficult to replace tenants, especially for specialized space, like hospital or outpatient treatment facilities located in our properties, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant or other capital improvements or payment of leasing commissions, which could limit our ability to attract or replace tenants and adversely impact our ability to make cash distributions to our stockholders.
When tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, it is common that, in order to attract replacement tenants, we will be required to expend funds for tenant improvements, payment of leasing commissions and other concessions related to the vacated space. Such tenant improvements may require us to incur substantial capital expenditures. We may not be able to fund capital expenditures solely from cash provided from our operating activities because we must distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, each year to qualify as a REIT. As a result, our ability to fund tenant and other capital improvements or payment of leasing commissions through retained earnings may be limited. If we have insufficient capital reserves, we will have to obtain financing from other sources. We may also have future financing needs for other capital improvements to refurbish or renovate our properties. If we are unable to secure financing on terms that we believe are acceptable or at all, we may be unable to make tenant and other capital improvements, payment of leasing commissions or we may be required to defer such improvements. If this happens, it may result in fewer potential tenants being attracted to the property or existing tenants not renewing their leases, causing one or more of our properties to suffer from a greater risk of obsolescence or a decline in value. If we do not have access to sufficient funding in the future, we may not be able to make necessary capital improvements to our properties, pay leasing commissions or other expenses or pay distributions to our stockholders.
We may be required to make rent or other concessions and significant capital expenditures to improve our properties in order to retain and attract tenants, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.
In order to retain existing tenants and attract new tenants, we may be required to offer more substantial rent abatements, tenant improvement allowances and early termination rights, provide options to purchase our properties within the lease term or accommodate requests for renovations, build-to-suit remodeling and other improvements or provide additional services to our tenants. As a result, we may have to make significant capital or other expenditures in order to retain tenants whose leases expire and to attract new tenants in sufficient numbers, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow. Additionally, if we need to raise capital to make such expenditures and are unable to do so, or such capital is otherwise unavailable, we may be unable to make the required expenditures. This could result in non-renewals by tenants upon expiration of their leases, which could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, or the market price of our common stock or preferred stock.
Supply chain disruptions and unexpected construction expenses and delays could impact our ability to timely deliver spaces to tenants and/or our ability to achieve the expected value of a construction project or lease, thereby adversely affecting our profitability.
The construction and building industry, similar to many other industries, is experiencing worldwide supply chain disruptions due to a multitude of factors that are beyond our control. Materials, parts and labor have also increased in cost over the past year or earlier, sometimes significantly and over a short period of time. Although we are generally not engaged in large-scale development projects, small-scale construction projects, such as building renovations and maintenance and tenant improvements required under leases are a routine and necessary part of our
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business. We may incur costs for a property renovation or tenant buildout that exceeds our original estimates due to increased costs for materials or labor or other costs that are unexpected. We also may be unable to complete renovation of a property or tenant space on schedule due to supply chain disruptions or labor shortages, which could result in increased debt service expense or construction costs. The time frame required to recoup our renovation and construction costs and to realize a return on such costs may be significant and materially adversely affect our profitability.
Some of the leases at our properties contain “early termination” provisions which, if triggered, may allow tenants to terminate their leases without further payment to us, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and the value of the applicable property.
Certain tenants have a right to terminate their leases prior to the termination date stated in their lease upon payment of a penalty, but others are not required to pay any penalty associated with an early termination. There can be no assurance that tenants will continue their activities and continue occupancy of the premises. Any cessation of occupancy by tenants may have an adverse effect on our operations.
Adverse economic or other conditions in the geographic markets in which we conduct business could negatively affect our occupancy levels and rental rates and have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Our operating results depend upon our ability to maintain and improve the anticipated occupancy levels and rental rates at our properties. Adverse economic or other conditions in the geographic markets in which we operate, including periods of economic slowdown or recession, industry slowdowns, periods of deflation, relocation of businesses, changing demographics, water pollution, earthquakes and other natural disasters, fires, terrorist acts, epidemics, pandemics, vandalism, civil disturbances or acts of war and other man-made disasters which may result in uninsured or underinsured losses, and changes in tax, real estate, zoning and other laws and regulations, may lower our tenants' businesses, occupancy levels and limit our ability to increase rents or require us to offer rental concessions. The failure of our properties to generate revenues sufficient to meet our cash requirements, including operating and other expenses, debt service and capital expenditures, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Climate change may adversely affect our business.
We cannot predict the rate at which climate change will progress. However, the physical effects of climate change could have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations, and business. To the extent that climate change impacts changes in weather patterns, our markets could experience severe weather, including hurricanes, severe winter storms, and tornadoes due to increases in storm intensity and unpredictable weather patterns. Over time, these weather conditions could result in declining demand for space at our properties, delays in construction, resulting in increased construction costs, or in our inability to operate the buildings at all. Climate change and severe weather may also have indirect effects on our business by increasing the cost of, or decreasing the availability of, property insurance on terms we find acceptable, by increasing the costs of energy, maintenance, repair of water and/or wind damage, and snow removal at our properties.
In recent years, the assessment of the potential impact of climate change has begun to impact the activities of government authorities and other areas that impact the business environment in the U.S., including, but not limited to, energy-efficiency measures, water use measures and land-use practices.
Various federal, state and local laws and regulations have been implemented or are under consideration to mitigate the effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Although these laws and regulations have not had any known material adverse effects on our business to date, changes in federal, state, and local legislation and regulation based on concerns about climate change could result in increased capital expenditures on our existing properties and our new development properties (for example, to improve their energy efficiency and/or resistance to severe weather) without a corresponding increase in revenue, which may result in adverse impacts to our net income. The impact of climate change on weather patterns or the occurrence of significant weather events could impact economic activity or the value of our properties in specific markets.
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We rely on a limited number of vendors to provide key services, including, but not limited to, utilities and construction services, at certain of our properties. Our business and property operations may be adversely affected if these vendors fail to adequately provide key services at our properties as a result of unanticipated events, including those resulting from climate change. If a vendor fails to adequately provide utilities, construction, or other important services, we may experience significant interruptions in service and disruptions to business operations at our properties, incur remediation costs, and become subject to claims and damage to our reputation.
The occurrence of any of these events or conditions may result in physical damage to our properties and adversely impact our ability to lease our properties, including our or our tenants’ ability to obtain property insurance on acceptable terms, which would materially and adversely affect us.
Environmental, social and governance matters may cause us to incur additional costs, make personnel changes, and affect the attractiveness of our stock to investors.
Shareholder, public and governmental expectations have been increasing with respect to corporate responsibility, sustainability, diversity and inclusion and related ESG matters. Shareholder advisory services and other organizations have developed and publish, and others may in the future develop and publish, rating systems and other scoring and reporting mechanisms to evaluate and compare the ESG performance of our Company and others. These ratings systems frequently change, and scores are often based on a relative ranking which may cause a company’s score to deteriorate if peer companies’ rankings improve. Keeping up with such changes may divert management’s time and attention from other business priorities. These force us to incur additional costs for staff, systems, and board members. In addition, current shareholders and prospective investors may use these ratings and/or their own internal ESG benchmarks to determine whether and to what extent they may choose to invest in our securities, engage with us to advocate for improved ESG performance or disclosure, make voting decisions as shareholders, or take other actions to hold us and our board of directors accountable with respect to ESG matters.
Some legislatures, government agencies and listing exchanges have mandated or proposed, and others may in the future further mandate, certain ESG disclosure or performance. For example, board diversity and inclusion is an ESG topic that is receiving heightened attention from lawmakers and listing exchanges. As an example, in 2021, the SEC approved Nasdaq Stock Market LLC's proposal that requires most Nasdaq-listed companies to meet specified board diversity requirements within a defined compliance period and face potential delisting if they do not explain any failure to meet the requirements. If we are unable to recruit, attract and/or retain qualified members of our board of directors to maintain compliance with the diversity requirements of applicable mandates within the prescribed timelines, we could be exposed to costly fines and penalties. We may also face reputational damage in the event our corporate responsibility initiatives or objectives, including with respect to board diversity, do not meet the standards or expectations of shareholders, prospective investors, lawmakers, listing exchanges or other constituencies, or if we are unable to achieve acceptable ESG ratings from third party rating services. Failure to comply with ESG-related laws, exchange policies or stakeholder expectations could materially and adversely impact the value of our stock and related cost of capital, and limit our ability to fund future growth.
A large percentage of our properties are located in Texas, Illinois, and Ohio, and changes in these markets may materially adversely impact our business and financial condition.
Of our investments in 193 properties, the properties located in Texas, Illinois, and Ohio provide, in the aggregate, approximately 39.6% of our annualized rent as of December 31, 2023. As a result of this geographic concentration, we are particularly exposed to downturns in the economies of those states or other changes in such states’ respective real estate market conditions. Any material change in the current payment programs or regulatory, economic, environmental or competitive conditions in these states could have a disproportionate effect on our overall business results. In the event of negative economic or other changes in these markets, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected.
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We will rely upon external sources of capital to fund future capital needs, and, if we encounter difficulty in obtaining such capital, we may not be able to make future acquisitions necessary to grow our business or meet maturing obligations.
In order to maintain our status as a REIT under the Code, we are required, among other things, to distribute each year to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains. In addition, we are subject to income tax at regular corporate rates to the extent we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, including any net capital gains. Because of this distribution requirement, we will not likely be able to fund all of our future capital needs from cash retained from operations, including capital needed to make investments and to satisfy or refinance maturing obligations. As a result, we expect to rely upon external sources of capital, including debt and equity financing, to fund future capital needs. If we are unable to obtain needed capital on satisfactory terms or at all, we may not be able to make the investments needed to expand our business or to meet our obligations and commitments as they mature. Our access to capital will depend upon a number of factors over which we have little or no control, including general market conditions, the market’s perception of our current and potential future earnings and cash distributions and the market price of our common stock. We may not be in a position to take advantage of attractive acquisition opportunities for growth if we are unable to access the capital markets on a timely basis on favorable terms.
The capital and credit markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruption as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, new and ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas, and the recent rise in inflation, as well as the resulting governmental policies. We believe that such volatility and disruption are likely to continue into the foreseeable future. Market volatility and disruption could hinder our ability to obtain new debt financing or refinance our maturing debt on favorable terms or at all or to raise debt and equity capital.
Covenants related to our indebtedness could limit our operations.
The terms of our current indebtedness as well as debt instruments that we entered into in the future are subject to customary financial and operational covenants. These include limitations with respect to liens, indebtedness, distributions, mergers, consolidations, investments, restricted payments and asset sales, as well as financial maintenance covenants. We may be unable to maintain compliance with these covenants and, if we fail to do so, we may be unable to obtain waivers and/or amend the covenants. If some or all of our debt is accelerated and becomes immediately due and payable, we may be unable to repay or refinance the debt. Our continued ability to incur debt and operate our business is subject to compliance with these covenants, which could limit operational flexibility.
We may not be able to control our expenses or our expenses may remain constant or increase, even if our revenue does not increase, which could cause our results of operations to be adversely affected.
There are factors beyond our control that may adversely affect our ability to control our expenses. Certain costs associated with real estate investments (e.g., real estate taxes, debt costs, increases in costs to address environmental impacts related to climate change or natural disasters, and maintenance expenses) required to preserve the value of the property may not be reduced even if a healthcare related facility is not occupied or other circumstances cause our revenues to decrease. If our expenses increase as a result of any of the aforementioned factors, our results of operations may be adversely affected.
Our ability to issue equity to expand our business will depend, in part, upon the market price of our common stock, and our failure to meet market expectations with respect to our business could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and thereby limit our ability to raise capital.
The availability of equity capital to us will depend, in part, upon the market price of our common stock, which, in turn, will depend upon various market conditions and other factors that may change from time to time, including:
•the extent of investor interest in our Company and our assets;
•our ability to satisfy the distribution requirements applicable to REITs;
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•the general reputation of REITs and the attractiveness of their equity securities in comparison to other equity securities, including securities issued by other real estate-based companies;
•our financial performance and that of our tenants;
•analyst reports about us and the REIT industry;
•macroeconomic conditions generally and conditions affecting the healthcare and real estate industry in particular;
•general stock and bond market conditions, including changes in interest rates on fixed income securities, which may lead prospective purchasers of our common stock to demand a higher annual yield from future distributions;
•a failure to maintain or increase our dividend which is dependent, in large part, upon funds from operations, or FFO, which, in turn, depends upon increased revenue from additional acquisitions and rental increases; and
•other factors such as governmental regulatory action and changes in REIT tax laws.
Our failure to meet the market’s expectations with regard to future earnings and cash distributions could materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock and, as a result, the cost and availability of equity capital to us.
We have now, and may have in the future, exposure to contingent rent escalators, which can hinder our growth and profitability.
We receive a significant portion of our revenues by acquiring and leasing our assets under long-term net leases in which the rental rate is generally fixed with annual fixed rate rental rate escalations or rental rate escalators based upon changes in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI. Properties which we acquire in the future may contain CPI escalators or escalators that are contingent upon our tenant’s achievement of specified revenue parameters. If, as a result of weak economic conditions or other factors, the revenues generated by our net leased properties do not meet the specified parameters or CPI does not increase, our growth and profitability may be adversely affected.
Our investments in development projects may not yield anticipated returns which could directly affect our operating results and reduce the amount of funds available for distributions.
A component of our growth strategy is exploring development opportunities, some of which may arise through strategic joint ventures. In deciding whether to make an investment in a particular development, we make certain assumptions regarding the expected future performance of that property. To the extent that we consummate development opportunities, our investment in these projects could be subject to the following risks:
•we may be unable to obtain financing for development projects on favorable terms or at all;
•we may not complete development projects on schedule or within budgeted amounts;
•we may encounter delays in obtaining or fail to obtain all necessary zoning, land use, building, occupancy, environmental and other governmental permits and authorizations, or underestimate the costs necessary to develop the property to market standards;
•development or construction delays may provide tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases or cause us to incur additional costs;
•volatility in the price of construction materials or labor may increase our development costs;
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•hospitals or health systems may maintain significant decision-making authority with respect to the development schedule;
•we may incorrectly forecast risks associated with development in new geographic regions;
•tenants may not lease space at the quantity or rental rate levels projected;
•demand for our development project may decrease prior to completion, including due to competition from other developments; and
•lease rates and rents at newly developed properties may fluctuate based on factors beyond our control, including market and economic conditions.
If our investments in development projects do not yield anticipated returns for any reason, including those set forth above, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our shareholders and the market price of our common shares may be adversely affected.
Mortgage notes in which we may invest in may be impacted by unfavorable real estate market conditions, which could decrease their value.
Investments in mortgage notes involve special risks relating to the particular borrower, and we could be at risk of loss on that investment, including losses as a result of a default on the mortgage note. These losses may be caused by many conditions beyond our control, including economic conditions affecting real estate values, tenant defaults and lease expirations, interest rate levels, adverse rulings of bankruptcy courts, and the other economic and liability risks associated with real estate. We do not know whether the values of the property securing any of our real estate related investments will remain at the levels existing on the dates we initially make the related investment. If the values of the underlying properties drop, our risk will increase and the values of our interests may decrease.
Delays in liquidating defaulted mortgage note investments could reduce our investment returns.
Delays in liquidating defaulted mortgage note investments could reduce our investment returns. If there are defaults under mortgage note investments, we may not be able to foreclose on or obtain a suitable remedy with respect to such investments. Specifically, we may not be able to repossess and sell the underlying properties quickly, which could reduce the value of our investment. For example, an action to foreclose on a property securing a mortgage note is regulated by state statutes and rules and is subject to many of the delays and expenses of lawsuits if the defendant raises defenses or counterclaims. Additionally, in the event of default by a mortgagor, these restrictions, among other things, may impede our ability to foreclose on or sell the mortgaged property or to obtain proceeds sufficient to repay all amounts due to us on the mortgage note.
We rely on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm our business.
We rely on information technology networks and systems, including the internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information, and to manage or support our business processes, including financial transactions and records, and maintaining personal information and tenant and lease data. We purchase some of our information technology from vendors, on whom our systems depend. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for the processing, transmission and storage of confidential tenant and customer data, including financial account information. While we have taken steps to protect the security of our information systems, we have, from time to time, experienced security incidents of varying degrees, although none of these security incidents have had a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. It is possible that in the future our safety and security measures will not prevent the systems’ improper functioning or damage, or the improper access or disclosure of personally identifiable or proprietary information and any such event could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Due to the fast pace and unpredictability of cyber threats, measures for addressing cybersecurity risks may become obsolete quickly. Security breaches, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, malware, phishing attacks, worms, attacks by hackers or foreign governments, disruptions from unauthorized access and tampering
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(including through social engineering such as phishing attacks), coordinated denial-of-service attacks, impersonation of authorized users and similar incidents, can create system disruptions, shutdowns or result in a loss of company assets or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. The risk of security incidents has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. In some cases, it may be difficult to anticipate or immediately detect such incidents and the damage they cause. In addition, our technology infrastructure and information systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, power loss and telecommunications failures. Failure to maintain proper function, security and availability of our information systems and the data maintained in those systems could interrupt our operations, damage our reputation, subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt our business and result in the unavailability or compromise of confidential information.
Our business is at risk from and may be impacted by information security incidents, including attempts to gain unauthorized access to our confidential data, ransomware, malware, and other electronic security events. Such incidents can range from individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to our information technology systems to more sophisticated security threats. They can also result from internal compromises, such as human error or malicious acts. While we employ a number of measures to prevent, detect and mitigate these threats, there is no guarantee such efforts will be successful in preventing a cyber event. Cybersecurity incidents could disrupt our business and compromise confidential information of ours and third parties, including our tenants.
Risks Related to the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare industry is heavily regulated and new laws or regulations, changes to existing laws or regulations, changes to reimbursement models or structure, loss of licensure or failure to obtain licensure could adversely impact our company and result in the inability of our tenants to make rent payments to us.
The healthcare industry is heavily regulated by U.S. federal, state and local governmental authorities. As has been the trend in recent years, it is reasonable to assume that there will continue to be increased government oversight and regulation of the healthcare industry in the future. Our tenants generally will be subject to laws and regulations covering, among other things, licensure, certification for participation in government programs, billing for services, breaches of privacy and security of health information and relationships with physicians and other referral sources. In addition, new laws and regulations, changes in existing laws and regulations or changes in the interpretation of such laws or regulations could negatively affect our financial condition and the financial condition of our tenants. These changes, in some cases, could apply retroactively. The enactment, timing or effect of legislative or regulatory changes cannot be predicted.
The Affordable Care Act's passage changed how healthcare services are covered, delivered and reimbursed through expanded coverage of uninsured individuals and reduced Medicare program spending. The law reformed certain aspects of health insurance, expanded existing efforts to tie Medicare and Medicaid payments to performance and quality and contained provisions intended to strengthen fraud and abuse enforcement. In addition, the law requires skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities to implement a compliance and ethics program for all employees and agents. The complexities and ramifications of the Affordable Care Act continue to unfold within our industry. Our revenues and financial condition, and those of our tenants, could be impacted by the current law’s complexity, lack of implementing regulations or interpretive guidance, gradual implementation and possible additional changes to the law. Further, we are unable to foresee how individuals and businesses will respond to the uncertain landscape or that landscape's effect on the reimbursement rates received by our tenants, the financial success of our tenants and strategic partners, and consequently the effect on us.
While the Trump Administration had decreased its focus on a legislative repeal of the Affordable Care Act, efforts in the courts are ongoing. In December 2018, a federal court ruled the law unconstitutional. This decision was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which issued a decision in December 2019 finding the insurance mandate unconstitutional and remanded the case to the District Court to consider the constitutionality of the rest of the law. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in November
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2020. The Court issued a decision in June 2021 dismissing the case for lack of standing. The decision did not address the merits of the lawsuit and the legality of the ACA, but the decision effectively ends the case. While it is not entirely clear exactly what actions the Biden Administration may take relative to the Affordable Care Act, the Biden Administration has signaled its strong support for the Affordable Care Act by taking steps to reverse various actions by the Trump Administration and to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act through an Executive Orders issued January 28, 2021. The Biden Administration and Congress strengthened coverage under the Affordable Care Act by increasing the subsidies available to purchasers of health plans through the insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act and otherwise expanding individual access to health insurance and additional healthcare services as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
We cannot predict the ultimate content, timing or effect of any further healthcare reform legislation related to increasing access to healthcare or the impact of potential legislation on us. We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for medical products once approved or additional pricing pressures, and may adversely affect our operating results.
Many states also regulate the construction of healthcare facilities, the expansion of healthcare facilities, the construction or expansion of certain services, including by way of example specific bed types and medical equipment, as well as certain capital expenditures through CON laws. Under such laws, the applicable state regulatory body must determine a need exists for a project before the project can be undertaken. If one of our tenants seeks to undertake a CON-regulated project, but is not authorized by the applicable regulatory body to proceed with the project, the tenant would be prevented from operating in its intended manner.
Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could adversely affect us directly and our tenants’ ability to make rent payments to us which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Adverse trends in healthcare provider operations may negatively affect our lease revenues and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The healthcare industry is currently experiencing, among other things:
•changes in the demand for and methods of delivering healthcare services;
•changes in third party reimbursement methods and policies;
•increased attention to compliance with regulations designed to safeguard protected health information and cyber-attacks on entities;
•consolidation and pressure to integrate within the healthcare industry through acquisitions and joint ventures; and
•increased scrutiny of billing, referral and other practices by U.S. federal and state authorities.
These factors may adversely affect the economic performance of some or all of our tenants and, in turn, our lease revenues, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Reductions in reimbursement from third-party payers, including Medicare and Medicaid, could adversely affect the profitability of our tenants and hinder their ability to make rent payments to us or renew their lease.
Sources of revenue for our tenants typically include Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance payers and health maintenance organizations. Healthcare providers continue to face increased government and private payer pressure to control or reduce healthcare costs and significant reductions in healthcare reimbursement, including reduced reimbursements and changes to payment methodologies under the Affordable Care Act. In some cases, private
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insurers rely upon all or portions of the Medicare payment systems to determine payment rates which may result in decreased reimbursement from private insurers. The Affordable Care Act and associated regulations continue to encourage increasing enrollment in plans offered by private insurers who choose to participate in state-run exchanges, but recent changes by the Trump Administration affecting Medicaid and the availability of lower cost, lower coverage plans creates uncertainty around private insurer costs and, thereby, payment rates to providers. Through Executive Orders issued January 28, 2021, the Biden Administration has taken steps to create a special enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act and other steps to support Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Both the Biden Administration and Congress strengthened coverage under the ACA by increasing the subsidies available to purchasers of health plans through the insurance Exchanges created by the ACA.
Efforts by payers to reduce healthcare costs will likely continue which may result in reductions or slower growth in reimbursement for certain services provided by some of our tenants. A reduction in reimbursements to our tenants from third-party payers for any reason could adversely affect our tenants’ ability to make rent payments to us which may have a material adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Our tenants and our Company are subject to fraud and abuse laws, the violation of which by a tenant may jeopardize the tenant’s ability to make rent payments to us.
There are various federal laws prohibiting fraudulent and abusive business practices by healthcare providers who participate in, receive payments from or are in a position to make referrals in connection with government-sponsored healthcare programs, including the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Many states have analogous laws which may be broader than their federal counterparts. Our lease arrangements with certain tenants may also be subject to these fraud and abuse laws.
These laws include without limitation:
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, the offer, payment, solicitation or receipt of any form of remuneration in return for, or to induce, the referral of any federal or state healthcare program patients;
•the Stark Law, which, subject to specific exceptions, restricts physicians who have financial relationships with healthcare providers from making referrals for designated health services for which payment may be made under Medicare or Medicaid programs to an entity with which the physician, or an immediate family member, has a financial relationship;
•the federal False Claims Act, which prohibits any person from knowingly presenting false or fraudulent claims for payment to the federal government, including under the Medicare and Medicaid programs;
•the federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law, which authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to impose monetary penalties for certain fraudulent acts;
•state anti-kickback, anti-inducement, fee-splitting, anti-referral and insurance fraud laws which may be generally similar to, and potentially more expansive than, the federal laws set forth above; and
•federal and state laws governing confidentiality, maintenance, and security issues associated with health-related information and medical records.
Other laws that impact how our tenants conduct their operations include: state and local licensure laws; laws protecting consumers against deceptive practices; laws generally affecting our tenants’ management of property and equipment and how our tenants generally conduct their operations, such as fire, health and safety and environmental laws (including medical waste disposal); federal and state laws affecting various types of facilities, including assisted living facilities mandating quality of services and care, mandatory reporting requirements regarding the
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quality of care and quality of food service; resident rights (including abuse and neglect laws); and health standards set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Violations of these laws may result in criminal and/or civil penalties that range from punitive sanctions, damage assessments, penalties, imprisonment, denial of Medicare and Medicaid payments and/or exclusion from federal healthcare programs including the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In addition, the Affordable Care Act clarifies that the submission of claims for items or services generated in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim under the False Claims Act. The federal government has taken the position, and some courts have held that violations of other laws, such as the Stark Law, can also be a violation of the False Claims Act. Additionally, certain laws, such as the False Claims Act, allow for individuals to bring whistleblower actions on behalf of the government for violations thereof. Imposition of any of these penalties upon one of our tenants or strategic partners could jeopardize that tenant’s ability to operate or to make rent payments or affect the level of occupancy in our healthcare properties, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock. Further, we enter into leases and other financial relationships with healthcare delivery systems that are subject to or impacted by these laws.
Our tenants may be subject to compliance issues and cyber-attack associated with the protection of personal information.
Security incidents and data breaches of personal information can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. More recently, there has been an increased level of attention on security incidents and cyber-attacks focused on healthcare providers because of the vast amount of personally identifiable information and protected health information that they process and maintain. Public awareness of privacy and security issues is increasing and focus of legislators and regulators has also increased. Most healthcare providers, including all who accept commercial insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended, (HIPAA) regulations regarding the privacy and security of protected health information. The HIPAA regulations impose significant requirements on our tenants and their business associate vendors with regard to how such protected health information may be used and disclosed. Further, the regulations include extensive and complex requirements for providers to establish reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of protected health information. The HIPAA regulations generally require notification to individuals and the Office for Civil Rights in the event of a breach affecting protected health information. HIPAA also directs the Secretary of HHS to provide for periodic audits to ensure covered entities (and their business associates, as that term is defined under HIPAA) comply with the applicable HIPAA requirements.
Additionally, all 50 states also maintain laws focused on the privacy, security and notification requirements with regard to personally identifiable information; some states include health and medical information in the definition of personally identifiable information. Providers may be obligated under state breach notification laws to notify individuals and regulators if personally identifiable information is compromised as defined by the respective law. In addition to federal regulators, state attorneys general are also enforcing information security breaches. Further, several states are now focused on expanding state privacy laws regarding personal information. For example, California maintains one of the more extensive laws in this area. California recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, whose effects on our tenant's businesses vary and add to the risk profiles of those in California or who otherwise meet the law's requirements regarding revenue or California personal information metrics. Additionally, the California Privacy Rights Act passed in November 2020, with the majority of its provisions becoming operative January 1, 2023. These laws require our tenants to safeguard personal information, and potentially other information, against reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the information.
Violations of these various privacy and security laws can result in significant civil monetary penalties, as well as the potential for criminal penalties. In addition to state data breach notification requirements, HIPAA authorizes state attorneys general to bring civil actions on behalf of affected state residents against entities that violate HIPAA privacy and security regulations or their respective state laws. These penalties could be in addition to any penalties assessed by a state for a breach which would be considered reportable under the state’s data breach notification laws. Further there are significant costs associated with a breach including investigation costs, remediation and mitigation
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costs, notification costs, attorney fees and the potential for reputational harm and lost revenues due to a loss in confidence in the provider. Plaintiff attorneys are increasingly developing class action litigation strategies designed to obtain settlements from healthcare providers. We cannot predict the effect of additional costs on tenants to comply with these laws nor the costs associated with a potential breach of protected health information or personally identifiable information by a tenant and what effect they might have on the expenses of our tenants and their ability to meet their obligations to us, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Our healthcare-related tenants may be subject to significant legal actions that could subject them to increased operating costs and substantial uninsured liabilities, which may affect their ability to pay their rent payments to us, and we could be subject to healthcare industry violations.
As is typical in the healthcare industry, our tenants may often become subject to claims that their services have resulted in patient injury or other adverse effects. Many of these tenants may have experienced an increasing trend in the frequency and severity of professional liability and general liability insurance claims and litigation asserted against them. The insurance coverage maintained by these tenants may not cover all claims made against them nor continue to be available at a reasonable cost, if at all. In some states, insurance coverage for the risk of punitive damages arising from professional liability and general liability claims and/or litigation may not, in certain cases, be available to these tenants due to state law prohibitions or limitations of availability. As a result, these types of tenants of our healthcare properties and healthcare-related facilities operating in these states may be liable for punitive damage awards that are either not covered or are in excess of their insurance policy limits.
We also believe that there has been, and will continue to be, an increase in governmental investigations of certain healthcare providers, particularly in the areas of Medicare/Medicaid false claims and meaningful-use of electronic health records, as well as an increase in enforcement actions resulting from these investigations. Insurance is not available to cover all such losses. Any adverse determination in a legal proceeding or governmental investigation, any settlements of such proceedings or investigations in excess of insurance coverage, whether currently asserted or arising in the future, could have a material adverse effect on a tenant’s financial condition. If a tenant is unable to obtain or maintain insurance coverage, if judgments are obtained or settlements reached in excess of the insurance coverage, if a tenant is required to pay uninsured punitive damages, or if a tenant is subject to an uninsurable cost of a government enforcement action or investigation, the tenant could be exposed to substantial additional liabilities, which may affect the tenant’s ability to pay rent, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry
Illiquidity of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties.
Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, our ability to promptly sell one or more of our properties in response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions is limited. The real estate market is affected by many factors, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand, that are beyond our control. In the event we decide to sell any of our properties, we cannot predict whether we will be able to sell such properties for the price or on the terms set by us or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We also cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of any of our properties. The fact that we own properties in our target submarkets may lengthen the time required to sell our properties. We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct those defects or to make those improvements.
In acquiring a property, we may agree to transfer restrictions that materially restrict us from selling that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These transfer restrictions would impede our ability to sell a property even if we deem it necessary
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or appropriate. These facts and any others that would impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
Moreover, the Code imposes restrictions on a REIT’s ability to dispose of properties that are not applicable to other types of real estate companies. In particular, the tax laws applicable to REITs require that we hold our properties for investment, rather than primarily for sale in the ordinary course of business, which may cause us to forego or defer sales of properties that otherwise would be in our best interests. Therefore, we may not be able to vary our portfolio promptly in response to economic or other conditions or on favorable terms, which may adversely affect our cash flows, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock.
We may suffer reduced or delayed revenues for, or have difficulty selling, properties with vacancies.
We anticipate that the majority of the properties we acquire will have some level of vacancy at the time of closing either because the property is in the process of being developed and constructed, it is newly constructed and in the process of obtaining tenants, or because of economic or competitive or other factors. Shortly after a new property is opened, during a time of development and construction, or because of economic or competitive or other factors, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in lower cash distributions to you due to a lack of an optimum level of tenants. In addition, the resale value of the real property could be diminished because the market value may depend principally upon the value of the leases of such real property. In addition, because properties’ market values depend principally upon the occupancy rates, the resale value of properties with prolonged low occupancy rates could suffer, which could further reduce your return.
Uncertain market conditions could cause us to sell our healthcare properties at a loss in the future.
We intend to hold our various real estate investments until such time as we determine that a sale or other disposition appears to be advantageous to achieve our investment objectives. However, we also may be purchasing our properties at a time when capitalization rates are at historically low levels and purchase prices are high. Therefore, the value of our properties may not increase over time, which may restrict our ability to sell our properties, or in the event we are able to sell such property, may lead to a sale price less than the price that we paid to purchase the properties.
Our senior management team and our board of directors may exercise their discretion as to whether and when to sell one of our healthcare properties, and we will have no obligation to sell our buildings at any particular time. We generally intend to hold our healthcare properties for an extended period of time, and we cannot predict with any certainty the various market conditions affecting real estate investments that will exist at any particular time in the future. Because of the uncertainty of market conditions that may affect the future disposition of our healthcare properties, we may not be able to sell our buildings at a profit in the future or at all. We may incur prepayment penalties in the event that we sell a property subject to a mortgage earlier than we otherwise had planned. Additionally, we could be forced to sell healthcare properties at inopportune times which could result in us selling the affected building at a substantial loss. Accordingly, the extent to which you will receive cash distributions and realize potential appreciation on our real estate investments will, among other things, be dependent upon fluctuating market conditions. Because of the uncertainty of market conditions that may affect the future disposition of our properties, and the potential payment of prepayment penalties upon such disposition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to sell our properties at a profit in the future, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows.
If we decide to sell any of our properties, we intend to use our best efforts to sell them for cash. However, in some instances we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash distributions to stockholders. Even in the absence of a purchaser default, the distribution of the proceeds of sales to our stockholders, or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced, or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, we may
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receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years. If any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to make distributions to you.
Uninsured losses relating to real property may adversely affect your returns.
We evaluate our insurance coverage annually in light of current industry practice through an analysis prepared by outside consultants and attempt to ensure that all of our properties are adequately insured to cover casualty losses. However, there are certain losses, including losses from floods, earthquakes, wildfires, acts of war, acts of terrorism or riots, that are not generally insured against or that are not generally fully insured against because it is not deemed economically feasible or prudent to do so. In addition, changes in the cost or availability of insurance could expose us to uninsured casualty losses. Inflation, changes in tort liability laws, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations, and other factors also might make it infeasible to use insurance proceeds to protect a tenant in a liability claim or replace a property after such property has been damaged or destroyed. In the event that any of our properties incurs a casualty loss that is not fully covered by insurance, the value of our assets will be reduced by the amount of any such uninsured loss, and we could experience a significant loss of capital invested and potential revenue in these properties and could potentially remain obligated under any recourse debt associated with the property. In addition, we may have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct the damaged property, and we cannot assure you that any such sources of funding will be available to us for such purposes in the future.
We have obtained title insurance policies for each of our properties typically in an amount equal to its original price. However, these policies may be for amounts less than the current or future values of our properties. In such an event, if there is a title defect relating to any of our properties, we could lose some of our investment in and anticipated profits from such property.
If one of our tenants experiences a material general or professional liability loss that is uninsured or exceeds policy coverage limits, it may be unable to satisfy its lease payment obligations to us. If one of our properties experiences a loss that is uninsured or that exceeds policy coverage limits, we could lose the capital invested in the damaged property as well as the anticipated future cash flows from the property.
Furthermore, we, as the general partner of our operating partnership, generally will be liable for all of our operating partnership’s unsatisfied recourse obligations. Any such losses could materially adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and ability to pay distributions, and the market price of our common stock.
Rising expenses could reduce cash flow and funds available for future acquisitions.
If any property is not fully occupied or if rents are being paid in an amount that is insufficient to cover operating expenses, we could be required to expend funds for that property’s operating expenses. Our properties will be subject to increases in tax rates, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs, and maintenance and administrative expenses.
If we are unable to offset such cost increases through rent increases, we could be required to fund those increases in operating costs which could adversely affect funds available for future acquisitions or cash available for distribution.
Our property taxes could increase due to property tax rate changes or reassessments, which could materially adversely impact our cash flows.
Even if we qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we will be required to pay some state and local taxes on our properties. The real property taxes on our properties may increase as property tax rates change or as our properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. The amount of property taxes we pay in the future may increase substantially from what we have paid in the past. If the property taxes we pay increase, our cash flow would be adversely impacted to the extent that we are not reimbursed by tenants for those taxes, and our ability to pay any expected dividends to our stockholders could be materially adversely affected.
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Our properties may contain or develop harmful mold or suffer from other air quality issues, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of remediation.
When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Indoor air quality issues can also stem from inadequate ventilation, chemical contamination from indoor or outdoor sources, and other biological contaminants such as pollen, viruses and bacteria. Indoor exposure to airborne toxins or irritants above certain levels can be alleged to cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold or other airborne contaminants from the affected property or increase indoor ventilation. In addition, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants could expose us to liability from our tenants, employees of our tenants or others if property damage or personal injury is alleged to have occurred.
We may incur significant costs complying with various federal, state and local laws, regulations and covenants that are applicable to our properties.
The properties in our portfolio are subject to various covenants and federal, state and local laws and regulatory requirements, including permitting and licensing requirements. Local regulations, including municipal or local ordinances and zoning restrictions may restrict our use of our properties and may require us to obtain approval from local officials or restrict our use of our properties and may require us to obtain approval from local officials of community standards organizations at any time with respect to our properties, including prior to acquiring a property or when undertaking renovations of any of our properties. Among other things, these restrictions may relate to fire and safety, seismic or hazardous material abatement requirements. There can be no assurance that existing laws and regulatory policies will not adversely affect us or the timing or cost of any future acquisitions or renovations, or that additional regulations will not be adopted that increase such delays or result in additional costs. Our growth strategy may be adversely affected by our ability to obtain permits, licenses and zoning relief. Our failure to obtain such permits, licenses and zoning relief or to comply with applicable laws could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and our ability to pay distributions, and the market price of our common stock.
In addition, federal and state laws and regulations, including laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, and the Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, or FHAA, impose further restrictions on our properties and operations. Under the ADA and the FHAA, all public accommodations must meet federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Some of our properties may currently be in non-compliance with the ADA or the FHAA. If one or more of our properties is not in compliance with the ADA, the FHAA or any other regulatory requirements, we may be required to incur additional costs to bring the property into compliance, including the removal of access barriers, and we might incur governmental fines or the award of damages to private litigants. In addition, we do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether future requirements will require us to make significant unanticipated expenditures that will adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and our ability to pay distributions, and the market price of our common stock.
Environmental compliance costs and liabilities associated with owning and leasing our properties may affect our results of operations.
Under various U.S. federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, current and prior owners and tenants of real estate may be jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigating, remediating and monitoring certain hazardous substances or other regulated materials on or in such property. In addition to these costs, the past or present owner or tenant of a property from which a release emanates could be liable for any personal injury or property damage that results from such release, including for the unauthorized release of asbestos-containing materials and other hazardous substances into the air, as well as any damages to natural resources or the environment that arise from such release. These environmental laws often impose such liability without regard to whether the current or prior owner or tenant knew of, or was responsible for, the presence or release of such substances or materials. Moreover, the release of hazardous substances or materials, or the failure to properly remediate such substances or materials, may adversely affect the owner’s or tenant’s ability to lease, sell, develop or
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rent such property or to borrow by using such property as collateral. Persons who transport or arrange for the disposal or treatment of hazardous substances or other regulated materials may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of such substances at a disposal or treatment facility, regardless of whether or not such facility is owned or operated by such person.
We perform a Phase I environmental site assessment at any property we are considering acquiring. However, Phase I environmental site assessments are limited in scope and do not involve sampling of soil, soil vapor, or groundwater, and these assessments may not include or identify all potential environmental liabilities or risks associated with the property. Even where subsurface investigation is performed, it can be very difficult to ascertain the full extent of environmental contamination or the costs that are likely to flow from such contamination. We cannot assure you that the Phase I environmental site assessment or other environmental studies identified all potential environmental liabilities, or that we will not face significant remediation costs or other environmental contamination that makes it difficult to sell any affected properties. As a result, we could potentially incur material liability for these issues, which could adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and ability to pay distributions, and the market price of our common stock.
Certain environmental laws impose compliance obligations on owners and tenants of real property with respect to the management of hazardous substances and other regulated materials. For example, environmental laws govern the management and removal of asbestos-containing materials and lead-based paint. Failure to comply with these laws can result in penalties or other sanctions. If we incur substantial costs to comply with these environmental laws or we are held liable under these laws, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected.
Some of the properties we acquire may be subject to ground lease or other restrictions on the use of the space. If we are required to undertake significant capital expenditures to procure new tenants, then our business and results of operations may suffer.
Properties we acquire may be subject to ground leases that contain certain restrictions. These restrictions could include limits on our ability to re-let these properties to tenants not affiliated with the healthcare provider or other owner that owns the underlying property, rights of purchase and rights of first offer and refusal with respect to sales of the property and limits on the types of medical procedures that may be performed. If we are unable to promptly re-let our properties, if the rates upon such re-letting are significantly lower than expected or if we are required to undertake significant capital expenditures in connection with re-letting, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected.
Our assets may be subject to impairment charges.
We will periodically evaluate our real estate investments and other assets for impairment indicators. The judgment regarding the existence of impairment indicators is based upon factors such as market conditions, tenant performance and legal structure. For example, the termination of a lease by a major tenant, or extended vacancies in a building may lead to an impairment charge. If we determine that an impairment has occurred, we would be required to make an adjustment to the net carrying value of the asset which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations in the period in which the impairment charge is recorded.
Risks Related to our Corporate Structure and the Acquisition of Properties
Conflicts of interest could arise in the future between the interests of our stockholders and the interests of holders of OP units, which may impede business decisions that could benefit our stockholders.
Conflicts of interest could arise in the future as a result of the relationships between us and our affiliates, on the one hand, and our operating partnership or any limited partner thereof, on the other. Our directors and officers have duties to our company under Maryland law in connection with the management of our company. At the same time, we, as the general partner of our operating partnership, have fiduciary duties and obligations to our operating partnership and its limited partners, if any, under Delaware law and our partnership agreement in connection with the management of our operating partnership. Our fiduciary duties and obligations as the general partner of our
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operating partnership may come into conflict with the duties of our directors and officers to our company. There are currently no limited partners of our operating partnership other than a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.