TOLEDO, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003--Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN) today disclosed information on its portfolio of properties with Alterra Healthcare Corporation ("Alterra"), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday. HCN has a master lease with Alterra for 45 assisted living facilities with a depreciated book value of $106 million, representing approximately 7 percent of HCN's portfolio at December 31, 2002. The master lease facilities had a rent payment coverage of 1.51 times for the quarter ending September 30, 2002. Alterra is current on all rent obligations.

HCN expects Alterra to remain current on rent payments and to assume the master lease. The properties covered by the master lease generate approximately $6 million per year of cash flow to Alterra.

Health Care REIT, Inc., with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests in health care facilities, primarily skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. At December 31, 2002, the company had investments in 244 health care facilities in 33 states with 44 operators and had total assets of approximately $1.6 billion. For more information on Health Care REIT, Inc., via facsimile at no cost, dial 1-800-PRO-INFO and enter the company code - HCN. More information is available on the Internet at http://www.hcreit.com.

This document may contain "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements concern the possible expansion of our portfolio; the performance of our operators and properties; our ability to enter into agreements with new viable tenants for properties which we take back from financially troubled tenants, if any; our ability to make distributions; our policies and plans regarding investments, financings and other matters; our tax status as a real estate investment trust; our ability to appropriately balance the use of debt and equity; and our ability to access capital markets or other sources of funds. When we use words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," or similar expressions, we are making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Our expected results may not be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from our expectations. This may be a result of various factors, including: the status of the economy; the status of capital markets, including prevailing interest rates; compliance with and changes to regulations and payment policies within the health care industry; changes in financing terms; competition within the health care and senior housing industries; and changes in federal, state and local legislation. Finally, we assume 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.

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