Document and Entity Information (USD $) In Billions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Aug. 29, 2014	Jun. 28, 2013
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	VENTAS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000740260
Document Type	10-K/A
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2013
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	This Amendment No. 1 to Ventas, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”) Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Amendment”) for the year ended December 31, 2013, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 18, 2014 (the “Original Filing”), is being filed to amend Part II, Items 8 and 9A, Part III, Item 14 and Part IV, Item 15 of the Original Filing following the re-audit of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and the related financial statement schedule and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013 under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (collectively, the “Re-audit”), by its current independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG LLP (“KPMG”). The Re-audit by KPMG did not result in any adjustments or changes to the Company’s consolidated financial statements or related notes for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 or the related financial statement schedule. Part II, Item 8 of the Original Filing has been amended solely to include KPMG’s audit reports on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012 and the related financial statement schedule and KPMG’s audit report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013, which replace the corresponding reports of Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) in the Original Filing that were withdrawn due solely to EY’s determination subsequent to the date of the Original Filing that it was not independent of the Company for the referenced periods. Part II, Item 9A of the Original Filing has been amended solely to disclose under “Management Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting” and “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control over Financial Reporting” that KPMG, not EY, audited the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2013 and issued a report thereon, which is included in this Amendment. Part III, Item 14 of the Original Filing has been amended to include disclosure regarding KPMG’s fees for the Re-Audit. Part IV, Item 15 of the Original Filing has been amended to include new certifications, as reflected in Exhibits 31.1, 31.2, 32.1, and 32.2, a consent from the Company’s current independent registered public accounting firm, KPMG, as reflected in Exhibit 23.1, and a new consent from the Company’s predecessor independent registered public accounting firm, EY, as reflected in Exhibit 23.2. No other changes have been made to the Original Filing. This Amendment does not reflect events or transactions occurring after the date of the Original Filing or modify or update those disclosures that may have been affected by events or transactions occurring subsequent to such filing date, and, except as described above, all information and exhibits included in the Original Filing remain unchanged.
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 20.3
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		294,335,008
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY