Medical Properties Trust, Inc. common stock

Thank you for standing by. My name is Jeanne, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Medical Properties Trust first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise during this 60-minute call. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question 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 1 again. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Charles Lambert, Senior Vice President. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Welcome to the NPT conference call to discuss our first quarter 2026 financial results. With me today are Edward K. Albag, Jr., Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Steven Hamner, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Kevin Hanna, Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, Rosa Williams, Senior Vice President of Operations and Secretary, and Jason Fry, Managing Director, Asset Management and Underwriting. Our press release was distributed this morning and furnished on Form 8K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If you did not receive a copy, it is available on our website at mpt.com in the Investor Relations section. Additionally, we're hosting a live webcast of today's call, which you can access in that same section. During the course of this call, we will make projections and certain other statements that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our financial results and future events to differ materially from those expressed in or underlying such forward-looking statements. We refer you to the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for discussion of the factors that could cause the company's actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in this call. The information being provided today is as of this date only and except as required by the federal securities laws The company does not undertake a duty to update any such information. In addition, during the course of the conference call, we will describe certain non-GAAP financial measures which should be considered in addition to and not in lieu of comparable GAAP financial measures. Please note that in our press release, MPT has reconciled all non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in accordance with Reg G requirements. You can also refer to our website at mpt.com for the most directly comparable financial results in related reconciliations. I will now turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Ed Aldag.

Thank you, Charles, and thanks to all of you for joining us this morning on our first quarter 2026 earnings call. In a moment, you will hear details from the rest of the team, but let me first summarize what we're seeing across our diverse portfolio of hospitals. Total portfolio EBITDARM coverage remained steady year over year at two and a half times. Our post-acute portfolio delivered standout results, with EBITDARM increasing approximately $80 million year-over-year, led by a 24% increase at Median, a 16% increase at Earnest Health, and a 61% increase at Vibra, which continues to deliver excellent results following the new 20-year master lease agreement executed in late 2025. General acute performance was largely stable, with EBITDARM increasing nearly $40 million year over year. These strong results were partially offset by our behavioral health portfolio, which continues to navigate two entirely separate challenges in the U.S. and U.K. markets. While both markets continue to experience strong demand, in the U.S., providers are grappling with staffing shortages, and in the U.K., Demand is being dampened by funding pressures at the NHS. Rosa will elaborate shortly on strategic actions being taken to address this. Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the trends we see across the portfolio in early 2026. Our momentum continues to build in post-acute. Our general acute care performance remains stable with strong performance across the portfolio. and we continue to see solid demand trends in the behavioral sector. Additionally, our portfolio of recently transitioned tenant rent continues to ramp as expected, with our tenants across Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana fully current on rent due through April. Quorum and Honor Health reached their fully stabilized rents in the third quarter of last year, and HSA ramped to 75% in March. and we continue to expect 100% of monthly payments from HSA beginning in October. Based on these encouraging trends, we remain confident in reaching our goal of over $1 billion in annualized cash rent by year-end. Rosa?