REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS (MedEquities Merger) (Narrative) (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, shares in Millions		3 Months Ended					7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 17, 2019 USD ($) loan item facility shares	Dec. 31, 2021 state facility $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2021 $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2021 $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2021 $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2020 $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) state facility $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consideration								$ 604,000	$ 104,400	$ 1,344,500
Special cash dividend (per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 0.67	$ 0.67		$ 2.68	$ 2.68	$ 2.65
Number of real estate properties | facility		960						960
Number of states | state		42						42
Acquisition related costs								$ 1,814	$ 2,018	$ 5,115
Revenues								$ 1,062,809	$ 892,381	$ 928,830
MedEquities
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash payment to acquire facilities	$ 63,700
Number of shares issued | shares	7.5
Loan amount	$ 350,000
Mortgage loans on real estate, number of loans | loan	4
Number of other investments acquired | item	3
Number of unconsolidated joint ventures acquired | item	1
Consideration	$ 346,000
Acquisition related costs							$ 5,100
Revenues							$ 35,200
Facilities Acquired | MedEquities
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of real estate properties | facility	33