Investments in and Advances to Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 HCR ManorCare	Jun. 30, 2012 HCR ManorCare	Jun. 30, 2013 HCR ManorCare	Jun. 30, 2012 HCR ManorCare	Apr. 07, 2011 HCR ManorCare	Jun. 30, 2013 HCP Ventures III, LLC item	Jun. 30, 2013 HCP Ventures IV, LLC item	Jun. 30, 2013 HCP Life Science item	Jun. 30, 2013 HCP Life Science Minimum	Jun. 30, 2013 HCP Life Science Maximum	Jun. 30, 2013 Torrey Pines Science Center, LP	Jun. 30, 2013 Britannia Biotech Gateway, LP	Jun. 30, 2013 LASDK, LP	Jun. 30, 2013 Horizon Bay Hyde Park, LLC item	Jun. 30, 2013 Suburban Properties, LLC item	Jun. 30, 2013 Advances to unconsolidated joint ventures, net	Jun. 30, 2013 Edgewood Assisted Living Center, LLC item	Jun. 30, 2013 Seminole Shores Living Center, LLC item
Company owned interests in entities, accounted under equity method:
Number of medical office buildings											13	54								1
Number of hospitals												4
Number of life science facilities													4
Number of senior housing facilities																			1			1	1
Investments in and advances to unconsolidated joint ventures	$ 208,878,000		$ 208,878,000		$ 212,213,000	$ 88,018,000		$ 88,018,000			$ 7,335,000	$ 31,049,000	$ 68,779,000						$ 6,496,000	$ 6,950,000	$ 251,000
Investment reported in liabilities	(1,021,000)		(1,021,000)																			(387,000)	(634,000)
Investment ownership percentage						9.50%		9.50%		9.90%	30.00%	20.00%		50.00%	63.00%	50.00%	55.00%	63.00%	72.00%	67.00%		45.00%	50.00%
Number of unconsolidated joint ventures													3
Reduction in DFL income						15,000,000	15,000,000	31,000,000	30,000,000
Summarized combined financial information for unconsolidated joint ventures:
Real estate, net	3,690,920,000		3,690,920,000		3,731,740,000
Goodwill and other assets, net	5,807,180,000		5,807,180,000		5,734,318,000
Total assets	9,498,100,000		9,498,100,000		9,466,058,000
Capital lease obligations and mortgage debt	6,813,884,000		6,813,884,000		6,875,932,000
Accounts payable	1,047,460,000		1,047,460,000		971,095,000
Other partners' capital	1,452,467,000		1,452,467,000		1,435,885,000
HCP's capital	184,289,000		184,289,000		183,146,000
Total liabilities and partners' capital	9,498,100,000		9,498,100,000		9,466,058,000
Combined basis difference	23,000,000		23,000,000
Total revenues	1,059,412,000	1,093,873,000	2,152,863,000	2,138,519,000
Net income	10,122,000	16,124,000	20,494,000	17,267,000
HCP's share in earnings	15,585,000	15,732,000	30,386,000	29,407,000
Fees earned by HCP	499,000	470,000	942,000	963,000
Distributions received by HCP	$ 1,157,000	$ 1,278,000	$ 2,528,000	$ 3,407,000