Health Care REIT, Inc. Announces Gross Investments of $1.2 Billion for 2008

Business Wire, Jan 8, 2009

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) announced today that it completed $215.1 million of gross investments during the fourth quarter of 2008. During the quarter, the company had asset sales and loan payoffs of $43.1 million, resulting in net new investments of $172.0 million. For the year ended December 31, 2008, the company completed $1.2 billion of gross investments, offset by $194.2 million of asset sales and loan payoffs, which generated $1.0 billion of net new investments. The following is a summary of the company's gross investment activities (dollars in thousands):

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Health Care REIT, Inc., with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of senior housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of December 31, 2008, the company's broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 633 properties in 39 states. More information is available on the Internet at www.hcreit.com.

This document may contain "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When the company uses words such as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate" or similar expressions, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect current plans and expectations and are based on information currently available. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements.