John Thomas
Analyst · RBC Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question
Thank you, Mark. We know there’s one statistic that more than any other you want to discuss, we are very pleased to report our April 2020 cash rent collection stand at 94.4% of billings. We anticipate collecting most, if not all of the remaining 6% over time. We are already off to a promising start in May with over 74% collected as of May 6, which is consistent with April’s pace of collections. During April, DOC received inquiries from tenants, who represent 21% of our annual base rent or ABR about their options for paying rent during the COVID-19 pandemic. These inquiries largely came from small tenants, ambulatory surgery center tenants and the specialist that performed surgical care like ophthalmologist and orthopedic surgeons hit hard by the national and state limitations on performing non-urgent surgery that can be postponed. DOC has used this period of time to engage with all of our tenants and on a case-by-case basis, assist them with the process of applying for federal paycheck protection program loans and/or Medicare grants and advanced payments. Before the CARES Act was even passed, we had retained two different consultants, each of which are active in medical practice management and the SBA process. These tenants who pursued PPP, medical assistants and other sources of liquidity, we waived lease late fee obligations and patiently worked with our tenants, while they sourced working capital to pay rent through these programs. In the end, tenants representing just over 5% of our ABR have not paid April rent thus far, but again, we believe most, if not all of this rent is collectible and will be collected. We refer you to our COVID-19 supplemental update posts this morning for more details. While our April rent collection for strong and May is off to a good start, we do expect tenants to continue to have constraints on the revenue, collections and working capital for the remainder of the second quarter. Fortunately, with the increase in PPE production, our outpatient care facilities can now start providing surgeries that had been delayed. Many of our providers are reporting full schedules and expanding surgical hours to the weekends as well. By the end of this weekend, the government prohibitions on scheduled surgery had expired for 91% of DOC’s ABR. This is updated as of this morning with the addition of Maryland overnight and is better than reported in our COVID supplement. In addition, as of this week, only two of our buildings are currently closed, one a wellness center lease to CommonSpirit and a small legacy building. Our provider tenants are anxious to care for their patients and get back to work. We’re now happy to address your questions.