Adjustment to zmount of the excess of the fair value of acquired net assets over the cost of an acquired business after pro rata reduction of the amounts that otherwise would have been assigned to acquired assets except financial assets other than investments accounted for by the equity method, assets to be disposed of by sale, deferred tax assets, prepaid assets relating to pension and postretirement benefit plans, and other current assets. This amount is considered an extraordinary item and often referred to as negative goodwill. This element is gross of the related tax effect.

No definition available.

Acquisitions and Dispositions (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Acquisitions and Dispositions (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Horizon Bay Realty LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Horizon Bay Realty LLC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition of Nine Communities	Sep. 30, 2012 Purchase of Home Health Agencies	Sep. 30, 2012 First Mortgage Financing [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Seller-financing [Member]
Schedule of Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Date of acquisition						September 1, 2011	February 2, 2012
Number of facilities purchased							9	3
Aggregate purchase price			$ 571,000	$ 13,711,000			$ 121,300,000	$ 6,600,000
Acquisition purchase price, amount financed									77,900,000	15,000,000
Number of communities securing acquisition financing									7	2
Percentage of equity agreed to acquire (in hundredths)						100.00%
Number of communities previously leased to Horizon By from HCP, Inc.						33
Number of communities owned and operated through joint venture with HCP, Inc.						21
Number of communities leased from HCP, Inc						12
Number of communities where the HCP, Inc. pre-existing lease was assumed						8
Number of communities where new lease was entered into						4
Percentage of interest acquired in joint venture						10.00%
Management agreement of joint venture (in years)						10
Number of five-year renewal options under the management agreement						4
Loss (gain) on acquisition	0	3,520,000	(636,000)	3,520,000		2,000,000
Adjustment to gain on acquisition					600,000
Contingent consideration, at fair value						2,700,000
Maximum contingent consideration						3,400,000
Contingent consideration arrangements description						The aggregate acquisition-date fair value of the purchase consideration transferred for the acquisition of Horizon Bay included $2.7 million of contingent consideration. The contingent consideration arrangement requires the Company to pay up to a maximum of approximately $3.4 million to Horizon Bay's former members. The Company estimated the fair value of the contingent consideration using a probability-weighted discounted cash flow model. This fair value measurement is based on significant inputs not observable in the market and thus represents a Level 3 measurement as defined in ASC 820. The key assumption in applying the income approach was the assignment of probabilities to the various possible outcomes.
Payments for Previous Acquisition					$ 1,200,000