CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION - Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 20,634,501	$ 17,649,007
Cash and cash equivalents	65,231	55,348	$ 64,595	$ 94,816
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	74,491	71,771
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,052,321	363,971
Assets held for sale	168,931	2,574,174
Other assets	418,502	451,642
Total assets	22,413,977	21,165,913
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	11,268,560	10,827,764
Intercompany loans	0	0
Accrued interest	67,358	62,097
Accounts payable and other liabilities	791,430	750,622
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	65,465	254,680
Deferred income taxes	352,658	344,337
Total liabilities	12,545,471	12,239,500
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	198,832	172,016
Total equity	9,669,674	8,754,397		8,903,811
Total liabilities and equity	$ 22,413,977	21,165,913
Nationwide Health Properties
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%
Ventas, Inc.
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 5,950	6,404
Cash and cash equivalents	13,909	24,857	19,143	28,169
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	200	2,102
Investment in and advances to affiliates	12,902,429	10,783,780
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Other assets	19,836	98,605
Total assets	12,942,324	10,915,748
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	0	0
Intercompany loans	7,006,558	5,555,196
Accrued interest	0	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	108,640	103,469
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	0
Deferred income taxes	352,658	344,337
Total liabilities	7,467,856	6,003,002
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	5,474,468	4,912,746
Total liabilities and equity	$ 12,942,324	10,915,748
Ventas Realty
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 200,306	216,521
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	1,363	1,424
Investment in and advances to affiliates	3,545,184	3,430,055
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	2,734	150,405
Other assets	4,437	41,821
Total assets	3,754,024	3,840,226
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	8,293,077	7,371,547
Intercompany loans	(6,509,049)	(5,562,739)
Accrued interest	52,892	43,212
Accounts payable and other liabilities	47,188	55,909
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	24,398
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	1,884,108	1,932,327
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	1,869,916	1,907,899
Total liabilities and equity	3,754,024	3,840,226
Ventas Subsidiaries
Assets
Net real estate investments	20,428,245	17,426,082
Cash and cash equivalents	51,322	30,491	45,452	66,647
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	72,928	68,245
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,052,321	363,971
Assets held for sale	166,197	2,423,769
Other assets	394,229	311,216
Total assets	22,165,242	20,623,774
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	2,975,483	3,456,217
Intercompany loans	(497,509)	7,543
Accrued interest	14,466	18,885
Accounts payable and other liabilities	635,602	591,244
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	65,465	230,282
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	3,193,507	4,304,171
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	198,832	172,016
Total equity	18,772,903	16,147,587
Total liabilities and equity	22,165,242	20,623,774
Consolidated Eliminations
Assets
Net real estate investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	$ 0	$ 0
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	0	0
Investment in and advances to affiliates	(16,447,613)	(14,213,835)
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(16,447,613)	(14,213,835)
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	0	0
Intercompany loans	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	0	0
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	0	0
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	(16,447,613)	(14,213,835)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (16,447,613)	$ (14,213,835)
Ventas Capital Corporation
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%