Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
There were no material changes from the risk factors previously disclosed in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on March 17, 2023, except as noted below.
The COVID-19 pandemic and economic impact of the pandemic have adversely impacted, and continue to adversely impact, our business and financial results, and the ultimate long-term impact of the pandemic will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with accuracy.
Our residents, tenants, operating partners and managers, our industry and the U.S. economy continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related supply chain disruptions, inflation and labor shortages. While the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have subsided, the timing and extent of the recovery towards pre-pandemic norms is dependent upon many factors, including the emergence and severity of future COVID-19 variants, the effectiveness and frequency of booster vaccinations, the duration and implications of ongoing or future restrictions and safety measures, the availability of ongoing government financial support to our tenants, operating partners and managers and the overall pace of economic recovery, among others. As an owner and operator of healthcare facilities, we expect to continue to be adversely affected by the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for some period of time; however, it is not possible to predict the full extent of its future impact on us, our residents, tenants, operating partners and managers, the operations of our properties or the markets in which they are located, or the overall healthcare industry. COVID-19 is particularly dangerous among the senior population and results in heightened risk to our senior housing and SNFs, and we continue to work diligently to maintain aggressive protocols at such facilities as well as actively collaborate with our tenants, operating partners and managers to respond and take action to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant decline in resident occupancy at our senior housing — leased facilities, SNFs, SHOP and integrated senior health campuses and an increase in COVID-19 related operating expenses. Among other things, due to the shortage of healthcare personnel, the pandemic caused higher labor costs that continue to adversely affect us, including those related to greater reliance on agency staffing and more costly short-term hires. Expenses also increased due to pandemic-related costs (e.g., heightened cleaning and sanitation protocols) and the ongoing inflationary environment. This has, in general, resulted in decreased NOI and margin at these properties relative to pre-pandemic levels. Therefore, our focus continues to be on improving occupancy and managing operating expenses. Resident occupancy for our other properties has been improving, but labor costs continue to remain elevated, and we have had difficulty filling open positions and retaining existing staff. The timing and extent of any further improvement in occupancy or relief from these labor pressures remains unclear. No assurance can be given that recent improvements in our occupancy, margin or NOI will be maintained or will continue at the same pace or at all, or that our occupancy, margin or NOI will ever return to pre-pandemic levels.
As a result of the federal government’s COVID-19 public health emergency declaration in January 2020 and its COVID-19 national emergency declaration in March 2020, certain federal and state pandemic-related relief measures, such as funding, procedural waivers and/or reimbursement increases, became available to us and some of our tenants and operators. These declarations expired on May 11, 2023 and April 10, 2023, respectively, and certain relief measures have been wound-down and others are being phased out. It is unclear what pandemic-related relief measures, including funding, waiver and reimbursement programs, that we and certain of our tenants and operators benefited from will continue to be available or the extent they will be available. The impact on individual skilled nursing facilities’ operators will vary, and therefore it is not possible to predict or quantify the financial impact it will have on resident occupancies.
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Certain provisions of Maryland law may make it more difficult for us to be acquired and may limit or delay our stockholders’ ability to dispose of their shares of our common stock.
Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or MGCL, such as the business combination statute and the control share acquisition statute, are designed to prevent, or have the effect of preventing, someone from acquiring control of us. The MGCL prohibits “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” is defined generally as:
• any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10.0% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock; or
• an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was an interested stockholder.
These prohibitions last for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder. Thereafter, any business combination with the interested stockholder or an affiliate of the interested stockholder must be recommended by the corporation’s board and approved by the affirmative vote of at least 80.0% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation and two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder. These requirements could have the effect of inhibiting a change in control even if a change in control were in the best interests of our stockholders.
The control share acquisition statute of the MGCL provides that, subject to certain exceptions, holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation (defined as voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other such shares of stock owned by the acquiror or in respect of which the acquiror can exercise or direct voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquiror to exercise voting power in electing directors within specified ranges of voting power) acquired in a “control share acquisition” (defined as the acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by our stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares of stock owned by the acquiror, by our officers or by our employees who are also our directors are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter.
Pursuant to the MGCL, our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the control share acquisition provisions of the MGCL any and all acquisitions by any person of shares of our stock, which eliminates voting rights for certain levels of shares that could exercise control over us, and our Board has adopted a resolution providing that any business combination between us and any other person is exempted from the business combination statute, provided that such business combination is first approved by our Board. However, if the bylaws provision exempting us from the control share acquisition statute or our Board resolution opting out of the business combination statute were repealed in whole or in part at any time, these provisions of the MGCL could delay or prevent offers to acquire us and increase the difficulty of consummating any such offers, even if such a transaction would be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.
None.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.