Disposal group including discontinued operation loss gain on write down.

No definition available.

Name:	mpw_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationLossGainOnWriteDown
Namespace Prefix:	mpw_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

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

- Definition

Amount of difference between the carrying amount and the sales price of real estate properties sold as part of discontinued operations.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnDispositionOfRealEstateDiscontinuedOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow from the sale of property, plant and equipment (capital expenditures), software, and other intangible assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Cash received for the sale of real estate that is not part of an investing activity during the current period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfRealEstate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=mpw_StewardHealthCareSystemLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstateAndAccumulatedDepreciationDescriptionOfPropertyAxis=mpw_HoustonTexasMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateDescriptionTypeOfPropertyAxis=mpw_StJosephMedicalCenterMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Real Estate and Lending Activities - Disposals - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 01, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net proceeds from sale of real estate			$ 148,809	$ 64,335
Gain on real estate dispositions		$ 7,400
Gain offset by non-cash charges		600
Proceeds from sale of facilities		$ 64,000
Steward Health Care System LLC [Member] \| Houston, Texas [Member] \| St. Joseph Medical Center [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net proceeds from sale of real estate	$ 148,000
Gain on real estate dispositions	1,500
Gain offset by non-cash charges	$ 1,700