CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION - Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 20,609,199	$ 20,578,039
Cash and cash equivalents	51,701	53,023	$ 120,225	$ 55,348
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	76,710	77,896
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,044,983	1,047,497
Assets held for sale	54,263	93,060
Other assets	424,436	412,403
Total assets	22,261,292	22,261,918
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	11,247,730	11,206,996
Intercompany loans	0	0
Accrued interest	66,988	80,864
Accounts payable and other liabilities	738,327	779,380
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	12,625	34,340
Deferred income taxes	333,354	338,382
Total liabilities	12,399,024	12,439,962
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	191,739	196,529
Total equity	9,670,529	9,625,427		8,754,397
Total liabilities and equity	22,261,292	22,261,918
Consolidated Elimination
Assets
Net real estate investments	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	0	0
Investment in and advances to affiliates	(16,546,291)	(16,534,826)
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(16,546,291)	(16,534,826)
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	0	0
Intercompany loans	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	0	0
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	0	0
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	(16,546,291)	(16,534,826)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (16,546,291)	(16,534,826)
Nationwide Health Properties
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%
Ventas, Inc.
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 2,101	5,798
Cash and cash equivalents	7,307	11,733	77,802	24,857
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	7,154	7,154
Investment in and advances to affiliates	13,001,108	12,989,643
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Other assets	16,456	17,869
Total assets	13,034,126	13,032,197
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	0	0
Intercompany loans	7,375,971	7,294,158
Accrued interest	0	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	78,125	68,604
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	0
Deferred income taxes	333,354	338,382
Total liabilities	7,787,450	7,701,144
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	5,246,676	5,331,053
Total liabilities and equity	$ 13,034,126	13,032,197
Ventas Realty
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 185,178	195,015
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	1,336	1,644
Investment in and advances to affiliates	3,545,183	3,545,183
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	2,393	4,488
Other assets	3,313	4,182
Total assets	3,737,403	3,750,512
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	8,364,652	8,370,670
Intercompany loans	(6,530,481)	(6,571,512)
Accrued interest	53,064	64,561
Accounts payable and other liabilities	43,372	45,226
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	44
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	1,930,607	1,908,989
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	1,806,796	1,841,523
Total liabilities and equity	3,737,403	3,750,512
Ventas Subsidiaries
Assets
Net real estate investments	20,421,920	20,377,226
Cash and cash equivalents	44,394	41,290	$ 42,423	$ 30,491
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	68,220	69,098
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,044,983	1,047,497
Assets held for sale	51,870	88,572
Other assets	404,667	390,352
Total assets	22,036,054	22,014,035
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	2,883,078	2,836,326
Intercompany loans	(845,490)	(722,646)
Accrued interest	13,924	16,303
Accounts payable and other liabilities	616,830	665,550
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	12,625	34,296
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	2,680,967	2,829,829
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	191,739	196,529
Total equity	19,163,348	18,987,677
Total liabilities and equity	$ 22,036,054	$ 22,014,035
Ventas Capital Corporation
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%