Line of Credit Facility, Number of Financial Covenants

No definition available.

Name:	hcsg_LineOfCreditFacilityNumberOfFinancialCovenants
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line of Credit Facility, Increase (Decrease) Remaining Borrowing Capacity

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcsg_LineofCreditFacilityIncreaseDecreaseRemainingBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Monetary Increase Of Medicare Payments To Skilled Nursing Facilities

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcsg_MonetaryIncreaseOfMedicarePaymentsToSkilledNursingFacilities
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage Increase Of Medicare Payments To Skilled Nursing Facilities

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcsg_PercentageIncreaseOfMedicarePaymentsToSkilledNursingFacilities
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage Of Reduction Of Medicare Payments To Plans And Providers

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcsg_PercentageOfReductionOfMedicarePaymentsToPlansAndProviders
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage Of Reduction To Medicare Payments To Nursing Centers.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hcsg_PercentageOfReductionToMedicarePaymentsToNursingCenters
Namespace Prefix:	hcsg_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Period of time between issuance and maturity of debt instrument, in PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentTerm
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The total amount of the contingent obligation under letters of credit outstanding as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LettersOfCreditOutstandingAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the current and noncurrent portions of long-term obligations drawn from a line of credit, which is a bank's commitment to make loans up to a specific amount. Examples of items that might be included in the application of this element may consist of letters of credit, standby letters of credit, and revolving credit arrangements, under which borrowings can be made up to a maximum amount as of any point in time conditional on satisfaction of specified terms before, as of and after the date of drawdowns on the line. Includes short-term obligations that would normally be classified as current liabilities but for which (a) postbalance sheet date issuance of a long term obligation to refinance the short term obligation on a long term basis, or (b) the enterprise has entered into a financing agreement that clearly permits the enterprise to refinance the short-term obligation on a long term basis and the following conditions are met (1) the agreement does not expire within 1 year and is not cancelable by the lender except for violation of an objectively determinable provision, (2) no violation exists at the BS date, and (3) the lender has entered into the financing agreement is expected to be financially capable of honoring the agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 942

-SubTopic 210

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.16)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 944

-SubTopic 210

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.16)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 19, 20, 22

-Article 5

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCredit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Date the credit facility terminates, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.19(b),22(b))

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityExpirationDate1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The number of states the entity operates in as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfStatesInWhichEntityOperates
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
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_ShortTermDebtLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementScenarioAxis=us-gaap_ScenarioForecastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_LetterOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Other Contingencies (Details)		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Other Contingencies (Details)	Oct. 01, 2011	Jan. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) financial_covenant state	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2015 USD ($)
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Bank line of credit			$ 200,000,000
Borrowings under line of credit			0
Reduction of bank line of credit			$ 75,978,000
Number of financial covenants \| financial_covenant			1
Credit line, term			5 years
Line of credit expiration date			Dec. 18, 2018
Number of states in which entity operates \| state			48
Percentage of reduction to Medicare payments to nursing centers	11.10%
Forecast
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Percentage Increase Of Medicare Payments To Skilled Nursing Facilities				1.20%
Monetary Increase Of Medicare Payments To Skilled Nursing Facilities				$ 430,000,000
Standby Letter Of Credit
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Irrevocable standby letter of credit, outstanding			$ 75,978,000		$ 78,259,000
Maximum
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Percentage of reduction of Medicare payments to plans and providers		2.00%