Sabra Health Care REIT outlined priorities and initiatives on environmental stewardship, social commitment, corporate governance and community service, with a nod to a freshly created e-initiative roadmap, in its second annual sustainability report, issued last week.
“The strides we have taken since beginning our ESG journey are a testament to the dedication of our team and the strong relationships we have with our tenants and operators, our shareholders, and the communities in which we live and work,” Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer Rick Matros said in a press release.
One of the Irvine, CA-based real estate investment trust’s “most significant achievements” in its ESG efforts this year has been the creation of Sabra’s e-initiative roadmap, he said.
According to the report, the roadmap has six pillars: measure, identify, initiate, innovate, validate and replicate.
Other key accomplishments of 2021, according to the report:
- Established core processes to begin measuring and assessing environmental metrics.
- Explored nontraditional investment opportunities with a focus on adaptive reuse projects.
- Established relationships with scientific research organizations to accelerate studies on senior wellness.
- Became one of the first REITs to use WELL Health-Safety Ratings across its managed portfolio.
- Broadened its diversity, equity and inclusion recruitment and training initiatives.
Earlier this year, as noted in the report, Sabra joined a group of senior living and care industry leaders and companies working to provide more healthy and safe indoor living spaces for residents and staff. As an alliance member in the WISE (Wellness Innovation in Senior Environments) initiative, Sabra in August became involved with Well Living Lab. A goal of the lab is to understand environments of older long-term care facilities and what can be done to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their professional caregivers.
“While looking at the abundance of products available to operators to improve quality of life for residents, patients and staff members, it became clear that outside expertise was necessary,” Matros said about Sabra’s efforts at a McKnight’s Online Forum.
Environmental, social and governance initiatives have taken on more prominence in the senior living and care arena over the past several years. Welltower (initially as Health Care REIT) has been issuing reports on its ESG efforts at least since 2012, and fellow early adopter Ventas has been honored for its sustainability efforts. The RMR Group, with client companies including Diversified Healthcare Trust and AlerisLife, published its first report in 2020, and CareTrust REIT and Sabra published their inaugural reports in 2021. Other senior housing-related REITs publishing reports include The Ensign Group, Healthpeak Properties, National Health Investors and Omega Healthcare Investors. Brookdale Senior Living is among operators issuing ESG reports.
