Discontinued Operations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 properties	Mar. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 National HealthCare Corporation [Member] properties	Jan. 31, 2011 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 ALF in Daytona [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 ALF in Daytona [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 Real Estate Properties	97		41									2	2		5	6
Revenues	$ 1,223,000	$ 1,320,000			$ 1,223,000	$ 1,188,000		$ 0	$ 41,000	$ 0	$ 91,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Properties, Net of Applicable Income Taxes	0	2,299,000		461,000			1,838,000
Number of Units in Real Estate Property														60
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax	1,223,000	1,304,000
Proceeds from Sale of Other Real Estate	$ 0	$ 5,771,000