Number of Hospitals Sold

No definition available.

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Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of licensed beds

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	cyh_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109226348&loc=d3e2420-110228

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date the entity disposed of a business or a group of assets, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This element represents the cash inflow during the period from the sale of a component of the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Acquisitions and Divestitures (Divestitures Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions		3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	May 01, 2017 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) item
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment and loss on sale of businesses, net				$ 138	$ 668	$ 2,123
Proceeds from disposition of hospitals and other ancillary operations				$ 604	$ 405	$ 1,692
Number of Hospitals Sold \| item						30
Divested Through 2018 and 2017 [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of Hospitals Sold \| item				53	53	53
Tennova Physicians Regional Medical Center [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment and loss on sale of businesses, net		$ 27
Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment and loss on sale of businesses, net			$ 4
AllianceHealth Pryor [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal date				May 01, 2017
Proceeds from disposition of hospitals and other ancillary operations	$ 1
Number of licensed beds \| item	52
Hospitals Included in Continuing Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment and loss on sale of businesses, net				$ 102	$ 415	$ 368