[GRAPHIC OMITTED]
  Ventas, Inc. 4360 Brownsboro Road Suite 115 Louisville, Kentucky 40207-1642
                       (502) 357.9000 (502) 357.9001 Fax

                                    Contact:    Debra A. Cafaro
                                                Chairman,  President and CEO
                                                or
                                                Richard A. Schweinhart
                                                Senior Vice President and CFO
                                                (502) 357-9000


         VENTAS DECLARES REGULAR QUARTERLY DIVIDEND OF $0.2675 PER SHARE
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           Stockholders Elect Directors; Ratify E&Y at Annual Meeting

Louisville, KY (May 16, 2003) - Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) (the "Company" or
"Ventas") said today its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly
dividend of $0.2675 per share, payable in cash on June 24, 2003 to stockholders
of record on June 2, 2003. The dividend is the second quarterly installment of
the Company's 2003 annual dividend, expected to be $1.07 per share. The Company
has approximately 79 million shares of common stock outstanding.

DIRECTORS ELECTED; E&Y RATIFIED AT ANNUAL MEETING

     At Ventas's annual meeting on May 15, 2003, stockholders voted to elect the
following board members to new, one-year terms. The board members are Debra A.
Cafaro, Douglas Crocker II, Ronald G. Geary, Jay M. Gellert and Sheli Z.
Rosenberg. As previously announced, Gary W. Loveman did not stand for
reelection.

     Ventas stockholders also ratified Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's
independent auditors for 2003.

     Ventas, Inc. is a healthcare real estate investment trust that owns 44
hospitals, 220 nursing facilities and nine other healthcare and senior housing
facilities in 37 states. The Company also has investments in 25 additional
healthcare and senior housing facilities. More information about Ventas can be
found on its website at www.ventasreit.com.

     This Press Release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"),
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
"Exchange Act"). All statements regarding Ventas, Inc.'s ("Ventas" or the
"Company") and its subsidiaries' expected future financial position, results of
operations, cash flows, funds from operations, dividends and dividend plans,
financing plans, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, capital
expenditures, competitive positions, growth opportunities, expected lease
income, continued qualification as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"),
plans and objectives of management for future operations and statements that
include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will" and other similar
expressions are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
inherently uncertain, and security holders must recognize that actual results
may differ from the Company's expectations. The Company does not undertake a
duty to update such forward-looking statements.


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Ventas Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend
Page 2
May 16, 2003
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     Actual future results and trends for the Company may differ materially
depending on a variety of factors discussed in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission"). Factors that may affect
the plans or results of the Company include, without limitation, (a) the ability
and willingness of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. ("Kindred") and certain of its
affiliates to continue to meet and/or perform their obligations under their
contractual arrangements with the Company and the Company's subsidiaries,
including without limitation the lease agreements and various agreements (the
"Spin Agreements") entered into by the Company and Kindred at the time of the
Company's spin-off of Kindred on May 1, 1998 (the "1998 Spin Off"), as such
agreements may have been amended and restated in connection with Kindred's
emergence from bankruptcy on April 20, 2001, (b) the ability and willingness of
Kindred to continue to meet and/or perform its obligation to indemnify and
defend the Company for all litigation and other claims relating to the
healthcare operations and other assets and liabilities transferred to Kindred in
the 1998 Spin Off, (c) the ability of Kindred and the Company's other operators
to maintain the financial strength and liquidity necessary to satisfy their
respective obligations and duties under the leases and other agreements with the
Company, and their existing credit agreements, (d) the Company's success in
implementing its business strategy, (e) the nature and extent of future
competition, (f) the extent of future healthcare reform and regulation,
including cost containment measures and changes in reimbursement policies and
procedures, (g) increases in the cost of borrowing for the Company, (h) the
ability of the Company's operators to deliver high quality care and to attract
patients, (i) the results of litigation affecting the Company, (j) changes in
general economic conditions and/or economic conditions in the markets in which
the Company may, from time to time, compete, (k) the ability of the Company to
pay down, refinance, restructure, and/or extend its indebtedness as it becomes
due, (l) the movement of interest rates and the resulting impact on the value of
the Company's interest rate swap agreements and the Company's net worth, (m) the
ability and willingness of the Company to maintain its qualification as a REIT
due to economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations, including without
limitation, the risk that the Company may fail to qualify as a REIT due to its
ownership of common stock in Kindred ("Kindred Common Stock"), (n) final
determination of the Company's taxable net income for the years ending December
31, 2002 and December 31, 2003, (o) the ability and willingness of the Company's
tenants to renew their leases with the Company upon expiration of the leases and
the Company's ability to relet its properties on the same or better terms in the
event such leases expire and are not renewed by the existing tenants, (p) the
impact on the liquidity, financial condition and results of operations of
Kindred and the Company's other operators resulting from increased operating
costs and uninsured liabilities for professional liability claims, particularly
in the state of Florida, and the ability of Kindred and the Company's other
operators to accurately estimate the magnitude of such liabilities, and (q) the
value of the Company's Kindred Common Stock and the limitations on the ability
of the Company to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of its common stock in
Kindred arising out of the securities laws and the registration rights agreement
the Company entered into with Kindred and certain of the holders of common stock
in Kindred. Many of such factors are beyond the control of the Company and its
management.

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