CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION (Unaudited) - Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 21,520,879	$ 20,578,039
Cash and cash equivalents	89,279	53,023	$ 65,231	$ 55,348
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	89,521	77,896
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,043,075	1,047,497
Assets held for sale	195,252	93,060
Other assets	488,258	412,403
Total assets	23,426,264	22,261,918
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	11,252,327	11,206,996
Intercompany loans	0	0
Accrued interest	70,790	80,864
Accounts payable and other liabilities	930,103	779,380
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	77,608	34,340
Deferred income taxes	315,713	338,382
Total liabilities	12,646,541	12,439,962
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	209,278	196,529
Total equity	10,570,445	9,625,427		8,754,397
Total liabilities and equity	23,426,264	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	(17,471,212)	(16,534,826)
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(17,471,212)	(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	(17,471,212)	(16,534,826)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (17,471,212)	(16,534,826)
Nationwide Health Properties
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage by parent	100.00%
Ventas, Inc.
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 2,027	5,798
Cash and cash equivalents	12,039	11,733	13,909	24,857
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	198	7,154
Investment in and advances to affiliates	14,476,749	12,989,643
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	5	0
Other assets	46,116	17,869
Total assets	14,537,134	13,032,197
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	0	0
Intercompany loans	6,971,785	7,294,158
Accrued interest	0	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	91,143	68,604
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	0	0
Deferred income taxes	315,713	338,382
Total liabilities	7,378,641	7,701,144
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	7,158,493	5,331,053
Total liabilities and equity	$ 14,537,134	13,032,197
Ventas Realty
Condensed financial statements, captions
Ownership percentage by parent	100.00%
Assets
Net real estate investments	$ 177,952	195,015
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	1,437	1,644
Investment in and advances to affiliates	2,994,463	3,545,183
Goodwill	0	0
Assets held for sale	1,624	4,488
Other assets	3,161	4,182
Total assets	3,178,637	3,750,512
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	8,480,339	8,370,670
Intercompany loans	(6,324,940)	(6,571,512)
Accrued interest	55,924	64,561
Accounts payable and other liabilities	40,732	45,226
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	1,479	44
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	2,253,534	1,908,989
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total equity	925,103	1,841,523
Total liabilities and equity	3,178,637	3,750,512
Ventas Subsidiaries
Assets
Net real estate investments	21,340,900	20,377,226
Cash and cash equivalents	77,240	41,290	$ 51,322	$ 30,491
Escrow deposits and restricted cash	87,886	69,098
Investment in and advances to affiliates	0	0
Goodwill	1,043,075	1,047,497
Assets held for sale	193,623	88,572
Other assets	438,981	390,352
Total assets	23,181,705	22,014,035
Liabilities:
Senior notes payable and other debt	2,771,988	2,836,326
Intercompany loans	(646,845)	(722,646)
Accrued interest	14,866	16,303
Accounts payable and other liabilities	798,228	665,550
Liabilities related to assets held for sale	76,129	34,296
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	3,014,366	2,829,829
Redeemable OP unitholder and noncontrolling interests	209,278	196,529
Total equity	19,958,061	18,987,677
Total liabilities and equity	$ 23,181,705	$ 22,014,035