Businessweek

LTC Properties, Inc. operates as a health care real estate investment trust (REIT). The company invests primarily in senior housing and long term care properties through property lease transactions, mortgage loans, and other investments. Properties The company's portfolio consists of 89 skilled nursing properties, 102 assisted living properties, 14 other senior housing properties, 2 schools, and a parcel of land under development. The company’s primary senior housing and long term healthcare property types include skilled nursing properties, assisted living properties, independent living properties, and combinations thereof. Skilled nursing facilities provide restorative, rehabilitative, and nursing care for people not requiring the treatment available at acute care hospitals. Majority of skilled nursing facilities provide ancillary services that include occupational, speech, physical, respiratory, and IV therapies, as well as sub-acute care services, which are paid either by the patient, the patient's family, private health insurance, or through the federal Medicare or state Medicaid programs. Assisted living facilities serve elderly persons who require assistance with activities of daily living, and do not require the constant supervision skilled nursing facilities provide. Services are usually available 24 hours a day, and include personal supervision and assistance with eating, bathing, grooming, and administering medication. The facilities provide a combination of housing, supportive services, personalized assistance, and health care designed to respond to individual needs. Independent living facilities, also known as retirement communities or senior apartments, offer a sense of community and various levels of service, such as laundry, housekeeping, dining options/meal plans, exercise and wellness programs, transportation, social, cultural and recreational activities, on-site security, and emergency response programs. Majority of independent living facilities offer on-site conveniences, such as beauty/barber shops, fitness facilities, game rooms, libraries, and activity centers. One property in the company’s real estate investment portfolio is a charter school. Charter schools provide an alternative to the traditional public school. Charter schools are autonomous entities authorized by the state or locality to conduct operations independent from the surrounding public school district. Tax Status The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. As a result, the company generally is not subject to Federal or State income taxation at the corporate level to the extent it distributes annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders and satisfies certain other requirements. History LTC Properties, Inc. was founded in 1992. The company was incorporated in 1992 in the state of Maryland.