Supplemental Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 191,432	$ 299,169	$ 548,754	$ 344,541
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	1,792,404	1,714,542
Supplies	342,268	329,114
Deferred income taxes	115,819	115,819
Prepaid expenses and taxes	117,458	100,754
Other current assets	175,109	193,331
Total current assets	2,734,490	2,871,193
Intercompany receivable	0	0
Property and equipment	6,506,424	6,324,437
Goodwill	4,227,970	4,150,247
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	1,356,531	1,352,246
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Total assets	14,825,415	14,698,123
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	70,112	63,139
Accounts payable	583,924	526,338
Current income tax payable	349	0
Deferred income taxes	8,882	8,882
Accrued interest	145,146	146,415
Accrued liabilities	854,329	897,266
Total current liabilities	1,662,742	1,642,040
Long-term debt	8,781,443	8,808,382
Intercompany payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	608,177	608,177
Other long-term liabilities	1,026,069	1,001,675
Total liabilities	12,078,431	12,060,274
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	376,658	387,472
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	932	936
Additional paid-in capital	1,119,205	1,126,751
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	(6,678)	(6,678)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(200,533)	(230,927)
Retained earnings	1,396,095	1,299,382
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	2,309,021	2,189,464
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	61,305	60,913
Total equity	2,370,326	2,250,377
Total liabilities and equity	14,825,415	14,698,123
Parent Guarantor [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Supplies	0	0
Deferred income taxes	115,819	115,819
Prepaid expenses and taxes	0	118,464
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	115,819	234,283
Intercompany receivable	1,190,786	1,079,295
Property and equipment	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	0	0
Net investment in subsidiaries	1,637,169	1,510,062
Total assets	2,943,774	2,823,640
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Current income tax payable	349
Deferred income taxes	8,882	8,882
Accrued interest	0	0
Accrued liabilities	7,580	7,595
Total current liabilities	16,811	16,477
Long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	608,177	608,177
Other long-term liabilities	9,765	9,522
Total liabilities	634,753	634,176
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	932	936
Additional paid-in capital	1,119,205	1,126,751
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	(6,678)	(6,678)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(200,533)	(230,927)
Retained earnings	1,396,095	1,299,382
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	2,309,021	2,189,464
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Total equity	2,309,021	2,189,464
Total liabilities and equity	2,943,774	2,823,640
Issuer [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Supplies	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and taxes	17	116
Other current assets	0	41
Total current assets	17	157
Intercompany receivable	9,441,127	9,002,158
Property and equipment	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	117,845	131,352
Net investment in subsidiaries	5,856,743	5,315,871
Total assets	15,415,732	14,449,538
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	49,954	49,953
Accounts payable	40	0
Current income tax payable	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	145,034	146,297
Accrued liabilities	567	567
Total current liabilities	195,595	196,817
Long-term debt	8,709,456	8,734,473
Intercompany payable	4,575,989	3,667,662
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	297,525	340,526
Total liabilities	13,778,565	12,939,478
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	0	0
Additional paid-in capital	663,410	640,683
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(200,533)	(230,927)
Retained earnings	1,174,290	1,100,304
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	1,637,167	1,510,060
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Total equity	1,637,167	1,510,060
Total liabilities and equity	15,415,732	14,449,538
Other Guarantors [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	80,552	212,035	495,168	238,495
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	1,043,386	971,220
Supplies	212,873	196,957
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and taxes	85,760	89,172
Other current assets	110,501	138,923
Total current assets	1,533,072	1,608,307
Intercompany receivable	1,438,751	1,145,185
Property and equipment	4,069,371	3,816,098
Goodwill	2,380,891	2,331,452
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	594,289	625,472
Net investment in subsidiaries	2,306,109	2,061,532
Total assets	12,322,483	11,588,046
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	17,073	11,063
Accounts payable	402,806	362,154
Current income tax payable	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	111	116
Accrued liabilities	576,614	569,991
Total current liabilities	996,604	943,324
Long-term debt	46,194	44,819
Intercompany payable	8,923,510	8,285,414
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	401,585	372,693
Total liabilities	10,367,893	9,746,250
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	1	1
Additional paid-in capital	709,243	682,686
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(10,074)	(12,990)
Retained earnings	1,255,420	1,172,099
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	1,954,590	1,841,796
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Total equity	1,954,590	1,841,796
Total liabilities and equity	12,322,483	11,588,046
Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	110,880	87,134	53,586	106,046
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	749,018	743,322
Supplies	129,395	132,157
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and taxes	31,681	11,466
Other current assets	64,608	54,367
Total current assets	1,085,582	1,028,446
Intercompany receivable	1,534,314	1,484,130
Property and equipment	2,437,053	2,508,339
Goodwill	1,847,079	1,818,795
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	644,397	595,422
Net investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Total assets	7,548,425	7,435,132
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	3,085	2,123
Accounts payable	181,078	164,184
Current income tax payable	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	1	2
Accrued liabilities	269,568	319,113
Total current liabilities	453,732	485,422
Long-term debt	25,793	29,090
Intercompany payable	5,979,987	5,911,829
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	317,194	278,934
Total liabilities	6,776,706	6,705,275
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	376,658	387,472
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	2	2
Additional paid-in capital	120,485	103,401
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	0	0
Retained earnings	213,269	178,069
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	333,756	281,472
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	61,305	60,913
Total equity	395,061	342,385
Total liabilities and equity	7,548,425	7,435,132
Eliminations [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Patient accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Supplies	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Prepaid expenses and taxes	0	0
Other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Intercompany receivable	(13,604,978)	(12,710,768)
Property and equipment	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets, net of accumulated amortization	0	0
Net investment in subsidiaries	(9,800,021)	(8,887,465)
Total assets	(23,404,999)	(21,598,233)
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Current income tax payable	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany payable	(19,479,486)	(17,964,905)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other long-term liabilities	0	0
Total liabilities	(19,479,486)	(17,964,905)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	(3)	(3)
Additional paid-in capital	(1,493,138)	(1,426,770)
Treasury stock, at cost, 975,549 shares at June 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010	0	0
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	210,607	243,917
Retained earnings	(2,642,979)	(2,450,472)
Total Community Health Systems, Inc. stockholders' equity	(3,925,513)	(3,633,328)
Noncontrolling interests in equity of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Total equity	(3,925,513)	(3,633,328)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (23,404,999)	$ (21,598,233)