Segment Disclosures - Summary Information for the Reportable Segments (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Segment reporting information, revenues
Number of reportable segments \| item	5
Rental Revenues	$ 456,899	$ 472,056
Resident fees and services	165,763	105,013
Operating expenses	(176,955)	(132,031)
NOI	445,707	445,038
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	(7,402)	(29,185)
Adjusted (cash) NOI	438,305	415,853
Adjusted (cash) NOI from unconsolidated joint ventures	17,044	15,544
Interest Income	18,029	33,262
Portfolio Income	473,378	464,659
Addback non-cash adjustments	7,402	29,185
Investment management fee income	91	460
Interest expense	(122,062)	(116,780)
Depreciation and amortization	(141,322)	(114,522)
General and administrative expenses	(25,499)	(24,773)
Acquisition and pursuit costs	(2,475)	(3,390)
Impairments		(478,464)
Gain on sales of real estate		6,264
Other income, net	1,222	1,724
Income tax (expense) benefit	(53,038)	77
Equity loss in unconsolidated joint ventures, excluding adjusted (cash) NOI	(17,952)	(1,943)
Net income (loss)	119,745	(237,503)
Senior housing
Segment reporting information, revenues
Rental Revenues	128,897	127,382
Resident fees and services	165,763	105,013
Operating expenses	(116,136)	(75,510)
NOI	178,524	156,885
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	(5,956)	(6,413)
Adjusted (cash) NOI	172,568	150,472
Adjusted (cash) NOI from unconsolidated joint ventures	14,898	14,012
Interest Income	1,851	7,394
Portfolio Income	189,317	171,878
Post-acute/skilled
Segment reporting information, revenues
Rental Revenues	107,190	140,576
Operating expenses	(564)	(533)
NOI	106,626	140,043
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	(271)	(18,083)
Adjusted (cash) NOI	106,355	121,960
Adjusted (cash) NOI from unconsolidated joint ventures	404
Interest Income	16,178	25,868
Portfolio Income	122,937	147,828
Life science
Segment reporting information, revenues
Rental Revenues	88,948	83,551
Operating expenses	(16,743)	(16,699)
NOI	72,205	66,852
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	(673)	(3,075)
Adjusted (cash) NOI	71,532	63,777
Adjusted (cash) NOI from unconsolidated joint ventures	1,420	1,228
Portfolio Income	72,952	65,005
Medical office
Segment reporting information, revenues
Rental Revenues	108,994	98,305
Operating expenses	(42,313)	(38,252)
NOI	66,681	60,053
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	(805)	(1,866)
Adjusted (cash) NOI	65,876	58,187
Adjusted (cash) NOI from unconsolidated joint ventures	322	304
Portfolio Income	66,198	58,491
Hospital
Segment reporting information, revenues
Rental Revenues	22,870	22,242
Operating expenses	(1,199)	(1,037)
NOI	21,671	21,205
Non-cash adjustments to NOI	303	252
Adjusted (cash) NOI	21,974	21,457
Portfolio Income	$ 21,974	$ 21,457

Amount of adjusted (cash) net operating income from equity method investments.

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Adjusted NOI is calculated as NOI after eliminating the effects of straight-line rents, DFL accretion, amortization of above and below market lease intangibles, and lease termination fees. Adjusted NOI is sometimes referred to as "Cash NOI".

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Amount of income (loss) from equity method investments, excluding adjusted (cash) net operating income.

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NOI is a non-GAAP supplemental financial measure used to evaluate the operating performance of real estate. The Company defines NOI as rental revenues, including tenant recoveries, resident fees and services, and income from direct financing leases, less property level operating expenses. NOI excludes interest income, investment management fee income, depreciation and amortization, interest expense, general and administrative expenses, impairments, impairment recoveries, other income, net, income taxes, equity income from and impairments of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures, and discontinued operations. The Company believes NOI provides relevant and useful information because it reflects only income and operating expense items that are incurred at the property level and presents them on an unleveraged basis. The Company uses NOI to make decisions about resource allocations and to assess and compare property level performance. The Company believes that net income is the most directly comparable GAAP measure to NOI. NOI should not be viewed as an alternative measure of operating performance to net income as defined by GAAP because it does not reflect the aforementioned excluded items. Further, the Company's definition of NOI may not be comparable to the definition used by other REITs, as those companies may use different methodologies for calculating NOI.

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Represents straight-line rents, DFL accretion, amortization of market lease intangibles and lease termination fees.

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Represents the income arrived by adding interest income to Adjusted NOI.

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Represents the addback of straight-line rents, DFL accretion, amortization of market lease intangibles and lease termination fees from segment portfolio income to consolidated net income.

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The total amount of rental and related revenues, tenant recoveries and income from direct financing leases recognized for the period.

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Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill.

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This element represents acquisition-related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include finder's fees; advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, and other professional or consulting fees; general administrative costs, including the costs of maintaining an internal acquisitions department; and may include costs of registering and issuing debt and equity securities.

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The net gain (loss) resulting from sales and other disposals of real estate owned for investment purposes.

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The aggregate total of expenses of managing and administering the affairs of an entity, including affiliates of the reporting entity, which are not directly or indirectly associated with the manufacture, sale or creation of a product or product line.

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Amount of revenues recognized from services provided to residents in facilities owned or operated by the health care organization (not including patient service revenue), which may be based on contractual rates set forth in agreements with third-party payers.

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Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense.

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Amount of operating interest income, including, but not limited to, amortization and accretion of premiums and discounts on securities.

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Revenue, comprised of base and incentive revenue derived from the management of joint ventures, managing third-party properties, or another entity's operations.

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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Generally recurring costs associated with normal operations except for the portion of these expenses which can be clearly related to production and included in cost of sales or services. Includes selling, general and administrative expense.

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The net amount of other income and expense amounts, the components of which are not separately disclosed on the income statement, resulting from ancillary business-related activities (that is, excluding major activities considered part of the normal operations of the business) also known as other nonoperating income (expense) recognized for the period. Such amounts may include: (a) dividends, (b) interest on securities, (c) net gains or losses on securities, (d) unusual costs, (e) gains or losses on foreign exchange transactions, and (f) miscellaneous other income and expense items.

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The consolidated profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, including the portion attributable to the noncontrolling interest.

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