Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A – Risk Factors
In addition to the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A contained in Part I of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and Item 1A of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, investors should carefully consider the following additional risk factor, which should be read in conjunction with the risk factors set forth in such Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and the other information contained in this report and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and measures intended to prevent its spread could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has led governments and other authorities in the U.S., U.K. and around the world to impose measures intended to control its spread, including but not limited to, the mandated use of PPE, restrictions on freedom of movement and business operations such as travel bans, border closings, business closures, quarantines and shelter-in-place orders, etc. While certain regions have entered various phases of reopening, there continues to be a wide range of government restrictions in place and uncertainty around the potential duration of the pandemic.
Many of our operators have reported incurring significant cost increases as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with dramatic increases for facilities with positive cases. We believe these increases primarily stem from elevated labor costs, including increased use of overtime and bonus pay, as well as a significant increase in both the cost and usage of PPE, testing equipment and processes and supplies. In terms of occupancy levels, many of our operators have reported experiencing declines, in part due to the elimination or suspension of elective hospital procedures, fewer discharges from hospitals to SNFs and higher hospital readmittances from SNFs. To the extent government support is not sufficient or timely to offset these impacts, or to the extent these trends continue or accelerate and are not offset by additional government relief that is sufficient and timely, the operating results of our operators are likely to be adversely affected, some may be unwilling or unable to pay their contractual obligations to us in full or on a timely basis and we may be unable to restructure such obligations on terms as favorable to us as those currently in place. Even if operators are able to avail themselves of government relief to offset some of these costs, they may face challenges in complying with the terms and conditions of government support and may face longer-term adverse impacts to their personnel and business operations from the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential patient litigation and decreased demand for their services.
Numerous state, local, federal and industry-initiated efforts may also affect landlords’ and/or mortgagees’ ability to collect payments due or enforce remedies for the failure to pay amounts due. Certain of our operators and/or mortgagors may incur significant costs or losses responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, lose business due to an interruption in their operations, potential patient litigation or decreased demand for their services or incur other liabilities related to shelter-in-place orders, quarantines, reopening plans, infection or other related factors. Risks related to the downturn in business of our operators are also described in our risk factor titled “The bankruptcy or insolvency of our operators could limit or delay our ability to recover our investments” under “Risk Factors—Risks Related to the Operators of Our Facilities” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused, and is likely to continue to cause, severe economic, market and other disruptions worldwide. We cannot assure you that conditions in the bank lending, capital and other financial markets will not continue to deteriorate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or that our access to capital and other sources of funding will not become constrained, which could adversely affect the availability and terms of future borrowings, renewals or refinancing. In addition, our employees may be impacted directly or indirectly by the pandemic and we may be required to make changes to our internal controls as a result of changes in our business processes or personnel; any such changes may increase our operational and financial reporting risks.
The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on our and our operators’ operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the ultimate duration, spread and intensity of the outbreak, which may depend on factors such as the development and implementation of an effective vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 and the efficacy of other policies and measures that may mitigate the impact of the pandemic, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict. Due to the speed with which the situation is changing, we are not able at this time to estimate the effect of these factors on our business, but the adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be material. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our or operators’ results of operations and financial condition, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in the “Risk Factors” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.
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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.