John Thomas, president and CEO of Physicians Realty Trust (NYSE: DOC), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2022 Annual Conference held in San Francisco on Nov. 15-17.
Thomas, who previously served as the general counsel at the health care systems for Baylor University and Sisters of Mercy, talked about how many in Physicians Realty Trust’s leadership join the company with prior experience in health care.
“We think it’s really important to understand the clinical business of health care, and…our physicians understand the trends in health care [and] the policy in health care,” he said. “It’s a very important part of our strategy and our culture.”
Thomas discussed Physicians Realty Trust’s recent $750 million acquisition of the Landmark Healthcare Facilities portfolio in Milwaukee, the single largest transaction in company history.
“It has really exceeded our expectations. It was a fantastic transaction at the time and we think it’s going to lead to more growth and more performance for our shareholders,” he said.
Turning to ESG initiatives, Thomas said the energy and waste management of Physicians Realty Trust’s buildings has been an important part of its ESG strategy since the company’s inception 10 years ago.
“Energy costs are going up 10% to 15% this year and with the systems we’ve put in place— the software we use, a company called Carbon Lighthouse—we capture all that energy data [and we] educate our tenants about how they can lower the cost of occupancy,” he said.