Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012		Mar. 31, 2011
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income [Abstract]
Operating revenues (net of contractual allowances and discounts)	$ 3,783,491		$ 3,354,052
Provision for bad debts	486,456		399,969
Net operating revenues	3,297,035		2,954,083
Operating costs and expenses:
Salaries and benefits	1,524,975		1,379,367
Supplies	498,579		457,817
Other operating expenses	708,943		614,793
Electronic health records incentive reimbursement	(26,168)		0
Rent	67,224		63,170
Depreciation and amortization	174,354		158,155
Total operating costs and expenses	2,947,907		2,673,302
Income from operations	349,128		280,781
Interest expense, net	152,175		163,218
Loss from early extinguishment of debt	63,429
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates	(12,013)		(18,134)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	145,537		135,697
Provision for income taxes	45,819		44,092
Income from continuing operations	99,718		91,605
Discontinued operations, net of taxes:
Loss from operations of entities sold	(466)		(1,678)
Impairment of hospital sold			(8,368)
Loss on sale, net			(3,234)
Loss from discontinued operations, net of taxes	(466)		(13,280)
Net income	99,252		78,325
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	23,778		17,001
Net income attributable to Community Health Systems, Inc.	$ 75,474		$ 61,324
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Community Health Systems, Inc. common stockholders:
Continuing operations	$ 0.86		$ 0.82
Discontinued operations	$ (0.01)		$ (0.15)
Net income	$ 0.85		$ 0.67
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Community Health Systems, Inc. common stockholders (1):
Continuing operations	$ 0.85	[1]	$ 0.81	[1]
Discontinued operations	$ (0.01)	[1]	$ (0.14)	[1]
Net income	$ 0.85	[1]	$ 0.67	[1]
Weighted-average number of shares outstanding:
Basic	88,674,779		91,008,405
Diluted	88,852,704		92,136,819

[1] [1] Total per share amounts may not add due to rounding.