Organization

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Organization [Abstract]

Organization

1. Organization

Medical Properties Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation, was formed on August 27, 2003 under the General Corporation Law of Maryland for the purpose of engaging in the business of investing in, owning, and leasing commercial real estate. Our operating partnership subsidiary, MPT Operating Partnership, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"), through which we conduct all of our operations, was formed in September 2003. Through another wholly-owned subsidiary, Medical Properties Trust, LLC, we are the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. At present, we directly own substantially all of the limited partnership interests in the Operating Partnership and have elected to report our required disclosures and that of the Operating Partnership on a combined basis except where material differences exist, MPT Finance Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership and was formed for the sole purpose of being a co-issuer of some of the Operating Partnership's indebtedness. MPT Finance Corporation has no substantive assets or operations.

Our primary business strategy is to acquire and develop real estate and improvements, primarily for long term lease to providers of healthcare services such as operators of general acute care hospitals, inpatient physical rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, surgery centers, centers for treatment of specific conditions such as cardiac, pulmonary, cancer, and neurological hospitals, and other healthcare-oriented facilities. We also make mortgage and other loans to operators of similar facilities. In addition, we may obtain profits interest in our tenants, from time to time, in order to enhance our overall return. We manage our business as a single business segment.