DISPOSITIONS - DISPOSITIONS - (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) property	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sale of Real Estate	$ 17,600
Gain on real estate dispositions	5,447	$ 48
Impairment of Real Estate	$ 10,200	$ 7,000
Triple-Net Leased Properties
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of Real Estate Properties Sold \| property	1
Medical Office Buildings
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of Real Estate Properties Sold \| property	3

Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of assets, including but not limited to property plant and equipment, intangible assets and equity in securities of subsidiaries or equity method investee.

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The charge against earnings in the period to reduce the carrying amount of real property to fair value.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-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

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226691&loc=d3e2921-110230

+ Details

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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

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

- Definition

Cash received for the sale of real estate that is not part of an investing activity during the current period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109223946&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The number of properties sold by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	vtr_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: