Sabra Health Care REIT made “forward leaps” last year in its environmental, social and governance framework and e-initiative roadmap, Chair, President and CEO Rick Matros said Monday in conjunction with the release of the company’s third annual sustainability report.
The Irvine, CA-based real estate investment trust’s e-initiative roadmap, launched in 2021, has six pillars: measure, identify, initiate, innovate, validate and replicate.
“The investments we’ve made in our properties, people and tenants will improve the lives of the residents and working environments for our teammates and the staff of the facilities that we own. Supporting our operators remains a major focus, and with the launch of our Green Links Fund, we are working collaboratively with our [triple net lease] tenants to track and report their energy and water efficiency improvements as well as fund initiatives at their properties,” Matros said.
The Green Links program, according to Sabra, applies the REIT’s e-initiative roadmap by financing tenants’ environmentally beneficial improvements after exchanging and assessing energy, water and other data. Sabra established an initial $5 million Green Links Fund in September 2022 with the expectation that the initiatives would be “accretive to our tenants and consequently beneficial to us as we increasingly evaluate physical and transition-related climate risks and the resilience of our assets to such risks,” the company said.
Other ESG highlights from 2022, according to the REIT:
- Established an ESG utility collection and data repository, including more than 238 properties across more than 25 operators in Sabra’s managed and triple net portfolios while expanding integrated climate risk ratings and scenario analysis in originations and asset management.
- Upheld a commitment to DEI, including providing a collaborative culture and workplace, competitive compensation and supporting work-life balance for the team.
“At Sabra, we have a supportive team environment where we are encouraged to be engaged and empowered, and our ESG performance is no exception,” said Yvonne Braden, senior associate, asset management. “From our ESG Lunch & Learn series to our direct support collecting tenant utilities, we feel connected to our ESG goals and the environmental and social impact they represent.”
In late 2022, Sabra made a decision to move its headquarters from Irvine, CA, to nearby Tustin, CA, due to environmental concerns and a changing need for square footage.
The new headquarters is “a green building meeting LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] standards, which is in line with our ESG initiatives,” Matros previously told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
Some of the relationships evident in Sabra’s senior living and care portfolio as of March 31 included Avamere, Claiborne, the Ensign Group, Holiday by Atria, Signature Healthcare and Solvere.
