Guarantor and Non-Guarantor Supplemental Information (Schedule of Condensed Consolidating and Combining Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Apr. 29, 2016	Apr. 27, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 89,542	$ 25,455			$ 996	$ 1,106
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $357,197 and $360,796 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	396,030	380,685
Inventories	53,368	58,124
Prepaid expenses	22,595	23,028
Due from third-party payors	106,380	116,235
Current assets of hospitals held for sale	9,067	1,502
Other current assets	62,529	57,942
Total current assets	739,511	662,971
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Property and equipment, net	720,364	733,900
Goodwill	408,580	416,833
Intangible assets, net	76,529	84,982
Long-term assets of hospitals held for sale	26,773	6,851
Other long-term assets	109,953	88,833
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Total assets	2,081,710	1,994,370
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	1,664	5,683
Accounts payable	174,880	169,684
Accrued liabilities:
Accrued salaries and benefits	98,130	98,803
Accrued interest	31,206	19,915
Due to third-party payors	43,723	42,537
Current liabilities of hospitals held for sale	2,351	492
Other current liabilities	49,532	53,268
Total current liabilities	401,486	390,382
Long-term debt	1,317,985	1,241,142	$ 1,250,497	$ 24,179
Intercompany payable	0	0
Deferred income tax liabilities, net	32,075	31,474
Other long-term liabilities	136,916	108,996
Total liabilities	1,888,462	1,771,994
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	6,279	6,807			8,335	8,958
Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	3	3
Additional paid-in capital	539,727	537,911
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(2,638)	(2,760)
Accumulated deficit	(361,587)	(334,026)
Total Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity	175,505	201,128
Nonredeemable noncontrolling interests	11,464	14,441
Total equity	186,969	215,569			14,211	15,943
Total liabilities and equity	2,081,710	1,994,370
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Parent Issuer [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	77,938	21,609			0	0
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $357,197 and $360,796 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Due from third-party payors	0	0
Current assets of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	77,938	21,609
Intercompany receivable	3	3
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Long-term assets of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other long-term assets	0	0
Net investment in subsidiaries	1,489,043	1,485,213
Total assets	1,566,984	1,506,825
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	3,819
Accounts payable	205	158
Accrued liabilities:
Accrued salaries and benefits	0	0
Accrued interest	31,206	19,915
Due to third-party payors	0	0
Current liabilities of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other current liabilities	268	0
Total current liabilities	31,679	23,892
Long-term debt	1,293,038	1,215,836
Intercompany payable	34,687	34,495
Deferred income tax liabilities, net	32,075	31,474
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	1,391,479	1,305,697
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	3	3
Additional paid-in capital	539,727	537,911
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(2,638)	(2,760)
Accumulated deficit	(361,587)	(334,026)
Total Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity	175,505	201,128
Nonredeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	175,505	201,128
Total liabilities and equity	1,566,984	1,506,825
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Other Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	11,399	3,498			545	524
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $357,197 and $360,796 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	307,656	277,155
Inventories	43,610	46,318
Prepaid expenses	18,033	17,874
Due from third-party payors	98,789	109,793
Current assets of hospitals held for sale	5,810	1,502
Other current assets	41,860	41,673
Total current assets	527,157	497,813
Intercompany receivable	204,933	126,035
Property and equipment, net	604,882	624,457
Goodwill	248,733	252,433
Intangible assets, net	67,003	73,404
Long-term assets of hospitals held for sale	17,083	6,851
Other long-term assets	87,551	72,967
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Total assets	1,757,342	1,653,960
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	1,411	1,560
Accounts payable	154,156	147,521
Accrued liabilities:
Accrued salaries and benefits	68,333	69,896
Accrued interest	0	0
Due to third-party payors	42,155	40,595
Current liabilities of hospitals held for sale	1,420	492
Other current liabilities	39,125	46,002
Total current liabilities	306,600	306,066
Long-term debt	24,579	24,899
Intercompany payable	155,949	86,084
Deferred income tax liabilities, net	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	173,817	144,950
Total liabilities	660,945	561,999
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	1,319,960	1,333,347
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	(2,638)	(2,760)
Accumulated deficit	(220,925)	(238,626)
Total Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity	1,096,397	1,091,961
Nonredeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	1,096,397	1,091,961
Total liabilities and equity	1,757,342	1,653,960
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	205	348			451	582
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $357,197 and $360,796 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	88,374	103,530
Inventories	9,758	11,806
Prepaid expenses	4,562	5,154
Due from third-party payors	7,591	6,442
Current assets of hospitals held for sale	3,257	0
Other current assets	20,669	16,269
Total current assets	134,416	143,549
Intercompany receivable	111,078	84,827
Property and equipment, net	115,482	109,443
Goodwill	159,847	164,400
Intangible assets, net	9,526	11,578
Long-term assets of hospitals held for sale	9,690	0
Other long-term assets	22,402	15,866
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Total assets	562,441	529,663
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	253	304
Accounts payable	20,519	22,005
Accrued liabilities:
Accrued salaries and benefits	29,797	28,907
Accrued interest	0	0
Due to third-party payors	1,568	1,942
Current liabilities of hospitals held for sale	931	0
Other current liabilities	10,139	7,266
Total current liabilities	63,207	60,424
Long-term debt	368	407
Intercompany payable	125,378	90,286
Deferred income tax liabilities, net	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	24,282	22,651
Total liabilities	213,235	173,768
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	6,279	6,807
Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	428,054	412,705
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	0	0
Accumulated deficit	(96,591)	(78,058)
Total Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity	331,463	334,647
Nonredeemable noncontrolling interests	11,464	14,441
Total equity	342,927	349,088
Total liabilities and equity	562,441	529,663
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0			$ 0	$ 0
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $357,197 and $360,796 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Due from third-party payors	0	0
Current assets of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Intercompany receivable	(316,014)	(210,865)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Long-term assets of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other long-term assets	0	0
Net investment in subsidiaries	(1,489,043)	(1,485,213)
Total assets	(1,805,057)	(1,696,078)
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities:
Accrued salaries and benefits	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Due to third-party payors	0	0
Current liabilities of hospitals held for sale	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany payable	(316,014)	(210,865)
Deferred income tax liabilities, net	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	(61,183)	(58,605)
Total liabilities	(377,197)	(269,470)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	(1,748,014)	(1,746,052)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	2,638	2,760
Accumulated deficit	317,516	316,684
Total Quorum Health Corporation stockholders' equity	(1,427,860)	(1,426,608)
Nonredeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	(1,427,860)	(1,426,608)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (1,805,057)	$ (1,696,078)