Item 8.01 Other Events.
Effective October 23, 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") adopted new rules related to insider trading. One of these rules, Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, provides an exemption to the insider trading rules in the form of an affirmative defense. Rule 10b5-1 recognizes the creation of formal programs under which executives and other insiders may sell the securities of publicly traded companies on a regular basis pursuant to written plans that are entered into at a time when the plan participants are not aware of material non-public information and that otherwise comply with the requirements of Rule 10b5-1.
On January 28, 2003, the Board of Directors of Health Care REIT, Inc. (the "Company") adopted a resolution modifying its insider trading policy to allow insiders to sell securities of the Company pursuant to pre-arranged trading plans.
On September 21, 2009, Frederick L. Farrar, Executive Vice President of the Company, entered into a new plan pursuant to which he instructed his broker to sell 2,746 shares of the Company's common stock during the period between September 22, 2009 and December 31, 2009. Reports of the details of actual sales under the plan will be filed by Mr. Farrar on Form 4 in accordance with SEC regulations.

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