Real Estate and Loans Receivable - Florence Facility - Additional Information (Detail) - Florence Acute Care Facility [Member] $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Real estate investment	$ 26.7
Outstanding rent receivables	0.9
Letter of credit outstanding	$ 1.2

Letter Of Credit To Cover Future Lease Obligations

No definition available.

Name:	mpw_LetterOfCreditToCoverFutureLeaseObligations
Namespace Prefix:	mpw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Future rental payments receivable within one year of the balance sheet date under an operating lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 840
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6454179&loc=d3e41551-112718

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeasesFutureMinimumPaymentsReceivableCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of real estate investments, net of accumulated depreciation, which may include the following: (1) land available-for-sale; (2) land available-for-development; (3) investments in building and building improvements; (4) tenant allowances; (5) developments in-process; (6) rental properties; (7) other real estate investments; (8) real estate joint ventures; and (9) unconsolidated real estate and other joint ventures not separately presented.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.1(d))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstateInvestments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstatePropertiesAxis=mpw_FlorenceAcuteCareFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: