CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION (unaudited) (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Revenues:
Rental income	$ 325,185	$ 293,671	$ 649,852	$ 560,873
Resident fees and services	341,594	303,437	680,764	588,630
Medical office building and other services revenues	3,537	6,639	7,185	12,247
Income from loans and investments	14,733	8,152	30,836	16,188
Equity earnings in affiliates			0	0
Interest and other income	797	65	1,835	112
Total revenues	685,846	611,964	1,370,472	1,178,050
Expenses:
Interest	83,046	72,767	162,452	140,678
Depreciation and amortization	172,706	187,367	351,495	347,563
Property-level operating expenses	269,738	236,652	537,187	452,489
Medical office building services costs	1,667	3,839	3,306	6,827
General, administrative and professional fees	27,327	26,423	56,101	48,621
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net	(720)	9,989	(720)	39,533
Merger-related expenses and deal costs	6,667	36,668	10,929	44,649
Other	4,385	1,510	8,972	3,086
Total expenses	564,816	575,215	1,129,722	1,083,446
Income before income/loss from unconsolidated entities, income taxes, discontinued operations and noncontrolling interest	121,030	36,749	240,750	94,604
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities	(506)	514	423	831
Income tax benefit (expense)	12,064	5,179	10,320	(6,159)
Income from continuing operations	132,588	42,442	251,493	89,276
Discontinued operations	(18,055)	31,294	(23,862)	74,552
Net income	114,533	73,736	227,631	163,828	361,775
Net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(47)	(289)	858	(823)
Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(47)	(289)	858	(823)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	114,580	74,025	226,773	164,651
Ventas, Inc.
Revenues:
Rental income	619	634	1,259	1,258
Resident fees and services			0	0
Medical office building and other services revenues			0	0
Income from loans and investments	1,159	951	1,262	1,890
Equity earnings in affiliates	105,135	51,602	221,203	112,778
Interest and other income	259	56	297	85
Total revenues	107,172	53,243	224,021	116,011
Expenses:
Interest	(474)	(1,513)	(941)	(2,236)
Depreciation and amortization	1,213	810	2,292	1,518
Property-level operating expenses			0	0
Medical office building services costs			0	0
General, administrative and professional fees	1,155	2,907	1,143	3,810
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net			0	0
Merger-related expenses and deal costs	4,227	28,689	6,976	30,053
Other	254	(36)	293	1
Total expenses	6,375	30,857	9,763	33,146
Income before income/loss from unconsolidated entities, income taxes, discontinued operations and noncontrolling interest	100,797	22,386	214,258	82,865
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities			0	0
Income tax benefit (expense)	12,064	5,179	10,320	(6,159)
Income from continuing operations	112,861	27,565	224,578	76,706
Discontinued operations	1,719	46,460	2,195	87,945
Net income	114,580	74,025	226,773	164,651
Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest			0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	114,580	74,025	226,773	164,651
Ventas Issuers
Revenues:
Rental income	70,342	68,939	140,075	136,374
Resident fees and services			0	0
Medical office building and other services revenues			0	0
Income from loans and investments	493	560	787	1,029
Equity earnings in affiliates			0
Interest and other income	5	5	11	10
Total revenues	70,840	69,504	140,873	137,413
Expenses:
Interest	35,958	23,820	68,485	44,939
Depreciation and amortization	7,734	13,138	15,167	20,769
Property-level operating expenses	140	118	242	241
Medical office building services costs			0	0
General, administrative and professional fees	5,165	7,114	10,786	14,112
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net		9,989	0	39,720
Merger-related expenses and deal costs			0	0
Other			21	0
Total expenses	48,997	54,179	94,701	119,781
Income before income/loss from unconsolidated entities, income taxes, discontinued operations and noncontrolling interest	21,843	15,325	46,172	17,632
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities	217	514	505	831
Income tax benefit (expense)			0	0
Income from continuing operations	22,060	15,839	46,677	18,463
Discontinued operations	209	1,315	604	3,426
Net income	22,269	17,154	47,281	21,889
Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest			0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	22,269	17,154	47,281	21,889
Ventas Subsidiaries
Revenues:
Rental income	254,224	224,098	508,518	423,241
Resident fees and services	341,594	303,437	680,764	588,630
Medical office building and other services revenues	3,537	6,639	7,185	12,247
Income from loans and investments	13,081	6,641	28,787	13,269
Equity earnings in affiliates	223	172	473	219
Interest and other income	533	4	1,527	17
Total revenues	613,192	540,991	1,227,254	1,037,623
Expenses:
Interest	47,562	50,460	94,908	97,975
Depreciation and amortization	163,759	173,419	334,036	325,276
Property-level operating expenses	269,598	236,534	536,945	452,248
Medical office building services costs	1,667	3,839	3,306	6,827
General, administrative and professional fees	21,007	16,402	44,172	30,699
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net	(720)		(720)	(187)
Merger-related expenses and deal costs	2,440	7,979	3,953	14,596
Other	4,131	1,546	8,658	3,085
Total expenses	509,444	490,179	1,025,258	930,519
Income before income/loss from unconsolidated entities, income taxes, discontinued operations and noncontrolling interest	103,748	50,812	201,996	107,104
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities	(723)		(82)	0
Income tax benefit (expense)			0	0
Income from continuing operations	103,025	50,812	201,914	107,104
Discontinued operations	(19,983)	(16,481)	(26,661)	(16,819)
Net income	83,042	34,331	175,253	90,285
Net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest	47	289
Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest			858	(823)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	83,089	34,620	174,395	91,108
Consolidated Eliminations
Revenues:
Rental income			0	0
Resident fees and services			0	0
Medical office building and other services revenues			0	0
Income from loans and investments			0	0
Equity earnings in affiliates	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
Interest and other income			0	0
Total revenues	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
Expenses:
Interest			0	0
Depreciation and amortization			0	0
Property-level operating expenses			0	0
Medical office building services costs			0	0
General, administrative and professional fees			0	0
(Gain) loss on extinguishment of debt, net			0	0
Merger-related expenses and deal costs			0	0
Other			0	0
Total expenses			0	0
Income before income/loss from unconsolidated entities, income taxes, discontinued operations and noncontrolling interest	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities			0	0
Income tax benefit (expense)			0	0
Income from continuing operations	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
Discontinued operations			0	0
Net income	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interest			0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	(105,358)	(51,774)	(221,676)	(112,997)
All Other
Revenues:
Rental income			0	0
Resident fees and services			0	0
Medical office building and other services revenues	263		263	0
Income from loans and investments	14,733	8,152	30,836	16,188
Interest and other income	797	65	1,835	112
Total revenues	15,793	8,217	32,934	16,300
Expenses:
Property-level operating expenses			0	0
Medical office building services costs			0	0
(Loss) income from unconsolidated entities	$ (191)		$ (191)	$ 0