As part of DOC’s ongoing Women in Leadership series, we were honored to host the newest member of our Board of Trustees, Ava Lias-Booker, Esq. A partner at McGuireWoods LLP, an international law firm, Ava leads the litigation practice of the firm’s Baltimore office. She is the past chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and its Diversity Action Council.

Our yearly Women in Leadership series is a DOC Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Council project. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our team to learn from and be inspired by women who are accomplished leaders and strong advocates for women working to grow and advance their careers. Our past speakers have included Courtney Nelson, Pam Kessler, Peggy Troy, Marissa Orr, and Audra Cunningham.

Two DOC team members moderated the session: Brad Page, SVP – General Counsel and Jen Manna, VP – Associate General Counsel and a DEI Council founding member.

Thank you to Ava, Jen, Brad, and all our team members who contributed to such an engaging and productive discussion!

Physicians Realty Trust is honored to earn once again a spot on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s annual Top Workplaces list! This year marks the fifth consecutive year DOC has earned this recognition, which relies on team member survey data on company leadership, compensation, and work environment. Congratulations to the entire DOC team on building and maintaining our unique company culture that continues to be recognized among our city’s best! View the complete list here.

DOC is humbled to be included among the Modern Healthcare 2021 Best Places to Work! Our ranking of 26th in the Supplier category represents our debut appearance earning this distinction while serving as the highest-rated health care real estate provider among the honorees.

Based on extensive and anonymous team member survey results, these prestigious nationwide rankings are the gold standard in the health care industry for recognizing workplaces that empower employees to provide patients and customers the best possible care, products, and services. The complete list of honorees is available here.

“What is not justified, now or ever again, is silence or indifference.”

In an open letter to team members, DOC President & CEO John T. Thomas details the company’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, support for Black Lives Matter, and efforts to combat racism and create and more equitable society for all.

 

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June 29, 2020

 

RE:      A Message from John Thomas to All Employees

Dear DOC Team,

The events of the last month have laid bare many of our shortcomings as a society. The pain, heartbreak, frustration, anger, and outrage that we are feeling, and our communities’ outpouring of emotions, are justified. What is not justified, now or ever again, is silence or indifference. There is simply no other conclusion one can reach. We are all created equal, but centuries of experience demonstrate otherwise. Inequities continue to exist. Discrimination continues to exist. Racism continues to exist.

As a company, we have a voice and a responsibility to drive meaningful change. Stating unequivocally that Black Lives Matter. All lives can’t matter until Black lives also matter. Racism will not be tolerated in our offices or across our portfolio. Ultimately, though, we will be judged on our actions, not our words. Earlier this year, DOC announced the creation of a formal Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Council. This Council will be critical in fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating opportunities for underrepresented populations, and providing intentional professional development.

We will soon publish our inaugural ESG report, and social responsibility is a critical component of our company’s efforts and goals of continuous improvement. Now, more than ever, aggressive goals are imperative to advancing initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In close, dismantling hundreds of years of systemic inequities will only happen if we all stand together in this fight, and commit to listening, learning, and, most importantly, acting. Together, we can help build a better DOC, a better community, and a better world with equity and humanity for all.

John T. Thomas
President & CEO

The DOC Team recently accepted our Best Places to Work award from the Milwaukee Business Journal. Winners for this award are determined exclusively based on employee responses to the Best Places to Work survey, so this is particularly meaningful for our company as we work together to build on our strong culture year after year. Our people will always be our secret sauce in creating an environment of excellence, enabling DOC to deliver industry-leading customer service to our healthcare partners and consistent returns to our shareholders.

Did you know that our brain receives approximately 11 million pieces of information each second? However, our conscious mind only processes about 40.

As part of DOC’s annual leadership training program, members of our team learned about the concept of unconscious bias from talented guest speaker Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry of MRA – The Management Association. In short, unconscious bias represents mental shortcuts based on social norms and stereotypes–prejudices of which we are unaware. Her talk served as a great reminder to be #mindful of the unconscious influences in our decision-making in the workplace that often goes unrecognized.

At our annual Physicians Realty Trust Management Summit, we were thrilled to welcome Harry Kraemer, Jr. as one of our guest keynote speakers. Mr. Kraemer, best-selling author and clinical professor of management and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, shared an inspiring keynote address on values-based leadership. During his talk, he challenged our attendees to develop their skills of self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility. As a parting gift, all Summit attendees received a copy of Mr. Kraemer’s book, Becoming the Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership.

Physicians Realty Trust recently held our 4th Annual Management Summit at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. Over 225 partners and guests were in attendance for this two day event filled with training opportunities. We are so proud of the incredible healthcare commercial real estate team we have built and their dedication to our Invest in Better philosophy. 

Physicians Realty Trust believes in rewarding and recognizing excellence among our nationwide team. At this year’s Management Summit, we recognized leaders in customer service, tenant work order satisfaction, capital improvement projects, lease management, and culture. DOC also awarded a lifetime achievement honor for the first time in our history. Please join us in congratulating these extraordinary partners:

• Building Engines Leader Award: Kathryn Rhinehart
• Customer Service All-Star Award: Eric Hufham
• Hard Hat Award: Teri Smith
• Sustainability Award: Megan Drummond
• VTS All-Star Award: Anne Madyun
• Broker of the Year Award: Sheila Bale
• DOC Cares Award: Diane Dean
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Diane Dean

On August 6, Pamela Kessler, Physicians Realty Trust Board of Trustees member and CFO & EVP of LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE: LTC), joined our team for our inaugural Women in Leadership series. Ms. Kessler shared stories from her career journey and valuable advice on personal growth, leadership, and the importance of collaboration. Moderated by our President and CEO John Thomas and our SVP-Controller Laurie Becker, this open-format panel was a tremendous success.

In July 2019 our management team held a Dog Days of Summer event at the Physicians Realty Trust-owned Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas, Texas. Patients and healthcare partners alike enjoyed time with the therapy dogs that serve the campus, and ice cream was generously donated by Select Commercial Services, our onsite janitorial company. As one patient shared, “Ice cream and dogs in the lobby–this is the best day ever!”

Physicians Realty Trust is proud to share that our Vice President of Asset Management, Mark Dukes, BOMA Fellow, RPA, CCIM, was elected Vice Chair of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International as voted upon by their Board of Governors. The election results were announced on Sunday, June 23 during the 2019 BOMA International Conference & Expo in Salt Lake City held June 22-25, 2019. Congratulations to Mark on this incredible accomplishment.

Vice President of Leasing, Amy Hall, was a guest on the Becker Group Business Strategy Women’s Leadership Podcast. Scott Becker interviewed Amy on topics including industry trends, work/life balance, and more.

To listen, click here.