Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. Class A

Hello all and a warm welcome to Healthcare Trust of America's third quarter 2021 earnings call. My name is Lydia and I'm your operator today. If you'd like to ask a question at the end of the presentation, you may do so by pressing star followed by one on your telephone keypad. It's my pleasure to now hand you over to our host, David Gershenson, Chief Accounting Officer. Please go ahead when you're ready.

Thank you and welcome to Healthcare Trust of America's third quarter 2021 earnings call. We followed our earnings release in our financial supplement earlier this morning. These documents can be found on the investor relations section of our website or with the SEC. Please note this call is being webcast and will be available for replay for the next 90 days. We'll be happy to take your questions at the conclusion of our prepared remarks. During the course of the call, we'll make forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs of management and information currently available to us. Our actual results will be affected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties, and factors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance. Therefore, our actual future results can materially differ from our current expectations. For a detailed description on potential risks, please refer to our SEC filings, which can be found in the investor relations section of our website. I will now turn the call over to Brad Blair, Chairman of Healthcare Trusts of America. Brad? Brad?

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for Healthcare Trust of America's third quarter earnings conference call. Joining me today is Peter Foss, our interim chief executive officer, Robert Milligan, our chief financial officer, and Amanda Houghton, our executive vice president of asset management. Before we get into discussing another strong quarter for HTA, I wanted to provide some additional insight to the HTA board priorities and actions, which have certainly accelerated since July. First, we announced the preliminary conclusion of the company's previously disclosed investigation into allegations reported through its whistleblower hotline. As outlined in yesterday's SEC filing, the audit committee and the company investigated allegations stemming from the whistleblower reports the company received in July 2021. The allegations included claims related to the whistleblower policy and potential retaliation, as well as the company's policies related to personal expense management around corporate cards and corporate aircraft use. Given the seriousness of the claims and the potential impact to those involved, the board undertook a very thorough and extensive investigation that utilized independent counsel to come to an objective conclusion of fact. Counsel for the audit committee worked closely with counsel for the company to conduct the investigation which involved collection and review of a significant number of documents and interviews of numerous witnesses. The investigation concluded this week and found that the former CEO engaged in conduct that was either in violation of or inconsistent with various company policies as it relates to the whistleblower policy, personal expense reimbursements, and personal use of the company aircraft. The financial impact of the inappropriate expenses that were specifically identified in these preliminary findings would not result in any material impact to the company or cause any financial restatements. As a result of these findings, the board and the audit committee have begun a process with the assistance of counsel to address the results of the investigation. The board and the audit committee also intend to enhance the company's policies and procedures regarding personal expenses and aircraft usage, the whistleblower policy, and disclosure controls and procedures. We are encouraged that HTA's commitment to empowering employees to raise legitimate concerns, coupled with the board's seriousness in addressing allegations of inappropriate behavior, has served a greater purpose of ensuring accountability across the organization. As it relates to Scott, our former CEO, declined to be interviewed for the investigation. He resigned of his own volition without any reason. This occurred at a time when the Board was just beginning its investigation process. Since then, the Board has elected to limit any dialogue and has turned its focus exclusively to moving the business forward. We will not make any further comments or statements related to his resignation and respect his privacy at this time. The company continues its search for a permanent CEO. As announced in September, the search is being led by a leading executive search firm and an independent search committee consisting of three independent board members. We believe the search for a permanent CEO to be a critical component in the board's overall evaluation of the strategic alternatives. Lastly, the board regularly reviews the company's strategic plan, priorities, and opportunities in order to enhance shareholder value. As such, we have been reviewing and continue to review the company's strategic plan as it continues to evolve amongst viable alternatives. As previously disclosed, we engaged advisors, including JP Morgan, to assist us in fulfilling our commitment to act in the best interest of HTA shareholders. With their help, we are actively evaluating a number of alternatives, including among others, a corporate sale or merger, joint ventures, and partnerships or asset sales. During the board's evaluation, HTA will continue to adapt its strategic plan and position the company as portfolio for growth, success, and value creation as we will continue to discuss on this earnings call. I want to stress that there can be no assurance that any transaction will result from the strategic review process, and we do not intend to disclose developments relating to this process unless and until the board has approved a specific agreement or transaction or has terminated its review. We continue to execute and position HTA as portfolio for growth, success, and value creation. That said, the purpose of this call is to discuss our financial results. As a board, we have split the chairman and CEO roles so that the board can focus on the strategic alternatives while Peter is focused on running the business with his capable team. To this end, we will be unable to answer any questions on our strategic evaluations, and we ask that you keep your questions focused on the company's current performance. With that, I'd like now to turn the call over to Peter.