Global Medical REIT Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Global Medical REIT first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Steve Sweat with Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Global Medical REIT's first quarter 22 and 84 earnings conference call. On the call today are Jeff Bush, Chief Executive Officer, Alfonso Leone, Chief Investment Officer, and Bob Kiernan, Chief Financial Officer. Please note the use of forward-looking statements by the company on this conference call. Statements made on this call may include statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking. The company intends these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is making this statement for purpose of complying with those safe harbor provisions. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond the company's control, including, without limitation, those contained in the company's 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and its other SEC filings. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, on this call, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as funds from operations, adjusted funds from operations, EBITRE, and adjusted EBITRE. You can find a tabular reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most currently comparable GAAP numbers in the company's earnings release and filings with the SEC. Additionally, information may be found on the investor relations page of the company's website at www.globalmedicalreit.com. I would now like to turn the call over to Jeff Bush, Chief Executive Officer of Global Medical Reef. Jeff.

Thank you, Steve. Good morning. And thank you for joining our first quarter 2024 earnings call. At the end of the first quarter, portfolio occupancy was 96.4%, with a weighted average lease term of 5.8 years and a portfolio average rent coverage ratio of 4.8 times. For the first quarter, our net income attributable to common shareholders was $794,000 or 1 cent per share compared to $673,000 or 1 cent per share in the first quarter of 2023. FFO in the first quarter was 21 cents per share and unit, down 1 cent from the prior year quarter. And our AFFO was 23 cents per share and unit unchanged from the prior year quarter. With regard to acquisitions, we are actively looking for properties that meet our investment criteria and underwriting standards. I am pleased to announce that subsequent to the quarter end, we entered into a purchase agreement for a 15 property portfolio of outpatient medical real estate for an aggregate purchase price of $81.3 million. These properties are fully occupied and are leased under triple net or absolute triple net leases. This acquisition is subject to customary terms and conditions, including due diligence reviews And we expect to close in two tranches, one tranche during each of the third and fourth quarter of 2024. This two tranche closing structure provides us with flexibility as we consider our options regarding the allocation of capital to fund this acquisition. For example, depending on market conditions, we may utilize net proceeds from strategic property dispositions or traditional equity and debt financing. As always, we are mindful of our long-term leverage targets and we expect any potential leverage increase resulting from this transaction would be short-term in nature. We remain committed to our accretive growth strategy while balancing the need to maintain prudent leverage. As we look to the balance of the year, we look forward to updating you on our progress. In terms of tenant-related items, on May 6, 2024, one of our tenants, Stewart Healthcare, announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. As of March 31st, Stewart represented 2.8% of the company's annualized base rent, primarily in one facility that is located in Beaumont, Texas. The company was actively pursuing releasing opportunities at this facility prior to the Stewart bankruptcy announcement, and we are optimistic about our long-term prospects at this location. Bob will provide more details regarding the financial aspects of our steward relationship in his remarks. We're closely monitoring this situation and will update the market for any material events as this situation progresses. Overall, I am pleased with our first quarter results and want to thank the entire team for their hard work and contributions to our results. With that, I turn the call over to Alfonso to discuss our investment activity and the current acquisition market conditions in more detail.