Acquisitions And Divestitures (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2010 Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. [Member]	Nov. 15, 2010 Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Behavioral Health Care Facilities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Knapp Medical Center [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 2011 Acquisitions Of Assets And Businesses [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition, total purchase price							$ 3,040,000,000
Acquisition, cash paid				1,958,000,000	1,958,000,000		1,960,000,000	12,000,000	29,000,000	29,000,000
Ownership interest percentage of acquisition	80.00%
Number of acute care hospital beds included in acquisition									226
Divested number of San Juan Capestrano hospital beds	108
Net cash proceeds from divestiture of assets and businesses	68,000,000	21,000,000	10,000,000
Debt assumed on the acquisition of businesses and real property				1,082,000,000	1,082,000,000		1,080,000,000		17,000,000
Previously held minority ownership interest, percentage	100.00%			20.00%	20.00%
Pro forma net revenues					7,300,000,000	7,010,000,000
Pro forma net income attributable to UHS					342,000,000	211,000,000
Pro forma net income attributable to UHS per diluted share					$ 3.47	$ 2.14
Transaction costs incurred						79,000,000
Transaction costs incurred, per diluted share						$ 0.81
Net revenues				$ 227,000,000
Number of beds acquired from behavioral health care facility								72