Divestitures - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands					1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 27, 2014 Centre	Sep. 30, 2013 Centre	Apr. 27, 2012 USD ($) Facility	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($) Facility Centre	Jul. 31, 2013 USD ($) Facility	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Facility	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) Bed	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Divestitures [Line Items]
Number of owned facilities nursing center | Centre			59
Revenues								$ 1,780,949	$ 1,764,516	$ 1,833,475	$ 1,675,967	$ 1,264,674	$ 1,228,918	$ 1,261,397	$ 1,272,610	$ 7,054,907	$ 5,027,599	$ 4,775,235
Rent																382,609	313,039	302,192
Loss on divestiture																4,900	(2,500)	(9,200)
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes																3,000	(1,500)	(5,600)
Write-off of an indefinite-lived intangible asset																8,900
Sale of assets																8,735	23,861	250,606
Asset impairment charges								18,000			$ 6,700							7,900
Impairment charges, net of tax																		4,800
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes								$ 261		$ 983		$ (9,061)	$ 1,387	$ (2,018)	$ (3,006)	1,244	(12,698)	(83,887)
Goodwill, written off																2,552
Write-off of an property and equipment																$ 1,400
Other	[1]																4,512
Vibra Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Loss on divestiture																	(10,000)	(93,900)
Number of non-strategic facilities | Facility						15
Number of nursing center sold | Centre						1
Proceeds from sale of non-strategic nursing centers						$ 187,000
Proceeds from Divestiture of Businesses, Net of Cash Divested						$ 180,000
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes																	(6,300)	(73,700)
Impairment of goodwill																		68,700
Signature Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Number of non-strategic facilities | Facility							7
Proceeds from sale of non-strategic nursing centers							$ 47,000
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes																		(1,000)
Loss on divestiture																		(1,700)
Discontinued Operations | Rent Expense
Divestitures [Line Items]
Payment for early termination																		20,000
Continuing Operations | Vibra Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Write-off of an indefinite-lived intangible asset																		21,000
Expiring Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Nursing centers, expiry date				Apr. 30, 2013
Revenues																	62,000
Rent																	10,000
Sale of assets				$ 13,500													$ 15,000
Number of renewal bundles not renewed | Facility				7
Number of facilities leased under master lease agreements | Facility				54
Nursing Centers
Divestitures [Line Items]
Nursing centers, expiry date																Sep. 30, 2014
Number of licensed nursing center beds | Bed																	903
Write-off of an indefinite-lived intangible asset																		500
Write-off of an property and equipment																	$ 200
Transitional Care Hospitals Lease to Expire
Divestitures [Line Items]
Loss on divestiture																	(700)
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes																	(400)
Write-off of an indefinite-lived intangible asset																	3,400
Impairment of intangible assets indefinitelived excluding goodwill net of tax.																	$ 2,100
Transitional Care Hospitals Lease to Expire | Vibra Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Write-off of an indefinite-lived intangible asset																		3,200
Loss on divestiture, net of income taxes																		(5,500)
Loss on divestiture																		(9,000)
Transitional Care Hospitals Lease to Expire | Discontinued Operations | Vibra Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Real estate write down																		8,600
Goodwill, written off																		400
Transitional Care Hospitals Lease to Expire | Continuing Operations | Vibra Facilities
Divestitures [Line Items]
Real estate write down																		1,400
Closing costs																		6,000
Closing costs net of tax																		3,900
Other																		$ 1,100
Ventas
Divestitures [Line Items]
Number of owned facilities nursing center | Centre		9
Payment to compromise early termination of leases contract					$ 40,000
Number of expiring facilities transferred | Facility																7
Received from transferred operations																$ 2,000
Received from transferred operations net of tax																$ 1,200
Number of remaining facilities to operate | Facility																2
Ventas | Lease Term One
Divestitures [Line Items]
Nursing centers, expiry date																Apr. 30, 2018
Ventas | Lease Term Two
Divestitures [Line Items]
Nursing centers, expiry date																Apr. 30, 2020

[1] (1) Other consists primarily of non-cash adjustments related to acquisitions within the measurement period.