Real Estate (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 properties	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 National HealthCare Corporation [Member] Y renewalOptions properties	Mar. 31, 2011 National HealthCare Corporation [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Kentucky River [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Current year National HealthCare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Current year National HealthCare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Final determination based on prior year revenues [Member] National HealthCare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Final determination based on prior year revenues [Member] National HealthCare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Kentucky River Commitment [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Subleased Facilities [Member] National HealthCare Corporation [Member] properties	Mar. 31, 2012 Bickford Commitment [Member] beds_or_units properties Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member] beds_or_units	Oct. 31, 2011 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] properties	Oct. 31, 2011 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] Contingent Payment [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Acquisition Helix Healthcare [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Oct. 31, 2009 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Disposal [Member] Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2010 Disposal [Member] Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member] properties	Aug. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member] ALF in Daytona [Member] beds_or_units	Mar. 31, 2012 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2009 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] properties
Number of Development Projects per Year															3
Number of Real Estate Properties	97				41									4				4			8			2	2		5	6
Loans and Leases Receivable, Description															3
Loans and Leases Receivable, Commitments, Fixed Rates															$ 3,000,000
Land	49,114,000		49,114,000
Less accumulated depreciation	(150,063,000)		(146,698,000)
Number of additional lease renewal options					3			1
Term of the lease renewal option period in years					5			5
Percentage Rent Rate					0.04
Operating Leases, Income Statement, Lease Revenue	21,307,000	18,929,000			9,903,000	9,477,000
Percentage rent					1,478,000	1,052,000			415,000	417,000	1,063,000	635,000
Number of Real Estate Properties To Be Constructed															8
Construction Commitment Period in Years													2		3
Lease Extension Period in Years								10
Percent of rental income recognized from tenants					46.00%	50.00%
Base rent revenue					33,700,000
Significant acquisitions and disposals, acquisition costs or sale proceeds																		55,278,000	5,478,000	12,500,000		28,250,000	4,500,000	5,271,000
Number of Units in Real Estate Property																										60
Number of years in initial lease term															15		15
Initial lease rate															9.00%		10.00%
Assets held for sale, net	29,381,000		29,381,000																					3,433,000
Carrying value of assets sold				4,039,000
Significant development and lease transactions													8,000,000				21,500,000
Expected Construction Commencement Year													2012
Number of beds in real estate property															60		60
Total Average Cost of Building Commitment															9,000,000
Construction in Progress, Gross	9,864,000		4,983,000													9,864,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Properties, Net of Applicable Income Taxes	$ 0	$ 2,299,000					$ 1,838,000