DISPOSITIONS - Real Estate Assets Held For Sale (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) property	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) property	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) property
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations
Number of properties held for sale \| property		1	3
Assets held for sale		$ 24,180	$ 65,413
Liabilities related to assets held for sale		$ 14,790	$ 60,265
Medical Office Buildings
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations
Properties no longer classified as held for sale \| property	5
Depreciation adjustment to properties no longer held for sale	$ 5,700
Office Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations
Number of properties held for sale \| property		1	3
Assets held for sale		$ 24,877	$ 65,413
Liabilities related to assets held for sale		$ 14,429	$ 60,265
Senior Living Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations
Number of properties held for sale \| property		0	0
Assets held for sale		$ (697)	$ 0
Liabilities related to assets held for sale		$ 361	$ 0

Amount classified as assets attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222160&loc=d3e1107-107759

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222650&loc=SL51721673-107760

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222160&loc=SL51721533-107759

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5C
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222650&loc=SL51721675-107760

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AssetsOfDisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of expense recognized in the current period that reflects the allocation of the cost of tangible assets over the assets' useful lives. Includes production and non-production related depreciation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Depreciation
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- 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_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount classified as liabilities attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222160&loc=d3e1107-107759

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5C
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222650&loc=SL51721675-107760

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222160&loc=SL51721533-107759

Reference 5: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222650&loc=SL51721673-107760

+ Details

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

- Definition

Represents the number of the properties which are classified as held for sale.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vtr_NumberOfPropertiesClassifiedAsHeldForSale
Namespace Prefix:	vtr_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Properties no longer classified as held for sale

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	vtr_Propertiesnolongerclassifiedasheldforsale
Namespace Prefix:	vtr_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateDescriptionTypeOfPropertyAxis=vtr_MedicalOfficeBuildingsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=vtr_OfficeoperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=vtr_SeniorLivingOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: