Litigation (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Feb. 28, 2011 Litigation relation to the NHP Acquisition lawsuit	Dec. 27, 2011 Litigation Relating to the Cogdell Acquisition lawsuit jurisdiction	Nov. 30, 2011 HCP, Inc. Litigation	Aug. 31, 2011 HCP, Inc. Litigation	Sep. 30, 2009 HCP, Inc. Litigation	Dec. 31, 2011 HCP, Inc. Litigation
Loss contingencies
Number of lawsuits filed				7	7
Number of lawsuits filed against Ventas				6
Number of lawsuits filed against a subsidiary of Ventas				5
Number of jurisdictions where lawsuits were filed					2
Litigation settlement, amount								$ 101,600,000
Proceeds from legal settlements						125,000,000	102,800,000
Litigation proceeds, net	$ 0	$ 202,259,000	$ 0						$ 202,300,000