The Ensign Group, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Kate and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Ensign Group, Inc. first quarter FY 2025 earnings conference call. All lights have been placed on you to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask questions during this time, Simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Keech. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone. We filed our earnings press release yesterday, and it is available on the investor relations section of our website at nzinegroup.net. A replay of this call will also be available on our website until 5 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, May 31st, 2025. We want to remind anyone that may be listening to a replay of this call that all statements made are as of today, April 30th, 2025, and these statements have not been nor will be updated subsequent to today's call. Also, any forward-looking statements made today are based on management's current expectations, assumptions, and beliefs about our business and the environment in which we operate. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied on today's call. Listeners should not place under reliance on forward-looking statements and are encouraged to review our SEC filings for a more complete discussion of factors that could impact our results. Except as required by federal securities laws, Enzyme and its independent subsidiaries do not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements where changes arise as a result of new information, future events, changing circumstances or for any other reason. In addition, the Ensign Group Inc. is a holding company with no direct operating assets, employees, or revenues. Certain of our independent subsidiaries collectively referred to as the service center provide accounting, payroll, human resources, information technology, legal, risk management, and other services to the other independent subsidiaries through contractual relationships. In addition, our captive insurance subsidiary, which we refer to as the insurance captive, provides certain claims-made coverage to our operating companies for general and professional liability, as well as for workers' compensation insurance liabilities. Enzyme also owns Standard Bear Healthcare REIT, Inc., which is a captive real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare properties and enters into lease agreements with certain independent subsidiaries of Enzyme, as well as third-party tenants that are unaffiliated with the Enzyme Group. The words Ensign, Company, We, Our, and Us refer to the Ensign Group, Inc., and its consolidated subsidiaries. All of our independent subsidiaries, the Service Center, Stanavera Healthcare REIT, and the Insurance Captive are operated by separate, independent companies that have their own management employees and assets. References herein to the consolidated company and its assets and activities, as well as the use of words We, Us, and Our in similar terms, are not meant to imply, nor should it be construed as meaning, that the Enzyme Group has direct operating assets, employees, or revenue, or that any of the subsidiaries are operated by the Enzyme Group. Also, we supplement our GAAP reporting with non-GAAP metrics. When viewed together with GAAP results, we believe that these measures can provide a more complete understanding of our business, but they should not be relied upon to the exclusion of GAAP reports. A GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation is available in yesterday's press release and is available in our Form 10Q. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Barry Port, our CEO. Barry?

Thanks, Chad, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We are thrilled to announce another record-setting quarter achieved by our local teams. In spite of all the industry noise, our results this quarter demonstrate that we've never been stronger, showing yet again that sound fundamentals coupled with an incredible passion can forge consistency even in an ever-changing environment. Our operators set several all-time highs during the quarter, which are only made possible by strong clinical outcomes achieved by our dedicated team of caregivers and frontline staff. During the quarter, we saw substantial growth across all of our buckets and in almost every market we serve. More specifically, we achieved an all-time high in same-store and transitioning occupancy, which increased to 82.6%, and 83.5% respectively over the prior year quarter. We also saw skilled census increase for both our same store and transitioning operations by 7.6% and 9.9% respectively over the prior year quarter. In addition, our managed care census grew by 8.9% and 15.6% for our same store and transitioning operations respectively over the prior year quarter. All of these improvements are the result of many factors, including the relentless efforts by our local leaders to share and implement best practices that lead to stronger outcomes and earn the confidence from our residents, acute care partners, ACOs, and managed care networks. While the quarter was strong, we were even more excited about our results because they were achieved while simultaneously adding 47 new operations since January of 2024. across almost every market we serve, some of which are already performing at or above our expectations. The combination of improvements in occupancy and skilled mix in our more mature operations and the long-term upside in our newly acquired operations shows the enormous organic growth potential in our existing portfolio. We continue to attract and develop caregivers and leaders and are building a formidable bullpen of caring and passionate partners who are determined to live our mission to dignify post-acute care. In addition, we continue to see improvements in turnover and limited use of agency staffing labor, all of which are critical to maintaining our cultural values and continuity of care. After such a strong first quarter, including some faster than expected contributions from some of our newly acquired operations, We are raising our annual 2025 earnings guidance to between $6.22 and $6.38 per diluted share, up from $6.16 to $6.34 per diluted share. The new midpoint of this increased 2025 earnings guidance represents an increase of 14.5% over our 2024 results and is 32% higher than our 2023 results. We're also increasing our annual revenue guidance to $4.9 billion to $4.94 billion, up from $4.83 billion to $4.91 billion to account for our current quarter growth and acquisitions we anticipate closing during the first half of 2025. We are excited about our start to the year and are confident that our partners will continue to manage and innovate while balancing the addition of newly acquired operations. We are eager to continue to drive organic improvements and take advantage of the acquisition opportunities that we see on the horizon. When we consider the current health of our organization combined with our culture and proven local leadership strategy, we are well positioned to continue executing our operational model. With all that said, we see so much more room for further improvement and we continue to optimize operational efficiencies, expand services, and create new partnerships, all of which will drive further improvements in occupancy and skilled mix. We look forward to continuing to build on the momentum from the first quarter into the rest of the year as we continue to successfully unlock value and opportunity in the dozens of recently acquired operations. This performance is not due to some large event or single transformative transaction, but instead is the result of steady and consistent growth and performance quarter after quarter which comes from a collective belief and a commitment held by all of our partners to expand our mission in a methodical and thoughtful way. Next, I'll ask Chad to share some additional insights regarding our recent growth. Chad?