Variable Interest Entities (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified			9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011 lease Property series tenant LLC	Sep. 30, 2010 Property tenant	Sep. 30, 2011 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary VIE tenants-operating leases	Sep. 30, 2011 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary VIE tenants-DFLs	Sep. 30, 2011 Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary Loans-senior secured
Company's involvement with VIEs:
Number of senior housing facilities leased	48	27
Number of VIE tenants	7	4
Maximum Loss Exposure			$ 352,602	$ 1,170,689	$ 75,650
Assets/liability type			Lease intangibles, net and straight-line rent receivables	Net investment in DFLs	Loans receivable, net
Carrying amount			$ 15,064	$ 589,720	$ 75,650

Number of properties leased by the entity to tenants that have been identified as a VIE.

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- Definition

Number of tenants of properties leased by entity for which the tenant is considered a VIE tenant.

+ Details

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- Definition

Balance sheet classification of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) assets included in the statement of financial position of the reporting entity. This element is applicable for variable interests whether the reporting entity has a controlling financial interest (primary beneficiary) or not.

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 810

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (bb)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6970148&loc=d3e5710-111685

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- Definition

The net carrying amount of the consolidated Variable Interest Entity's assets and liabilities included in the reporting entity's statement of financial position.

+ Details

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- Definition

The reporting entity's maximum amount of exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with the Variable Interest Entity (VIE).

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 810

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph b

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6970148&loc=d3e5728-111685

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name FASB Staff Position (FSP)

-Number FAS140-4/FIN46(R)

-Paragraph C6

-Subparagraph b

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 810

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 6

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6970148&loc=d3e5747-111685

+ Details

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- 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.

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