Description of Business	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Description of Business	NOTE 1–DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS Ventas, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated or except where the context otherwise requires, “we,” “us” or “our”), an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) operating at the intersection of healthcare and real estate, with a highly diversified portfolio of senior housing; life science, research and innovation; and healthcare properties; which we generally refer to as “healthcare real estate,” located throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2020, we owned or managed through unconsolidated real estate entities approximately 1,200 properties and properties classified as held for sale, consisting of senior housing communities, medical office buildings (“MOBs”), life science, research and innovation centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”) and long-term acute care facilities (“LTACs”), and health systems. Our company was originally founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with an additional office in Louisville, Kentucky. We primarily invest in a diversified portfolio of healthcare real estate asset through wholly owned subsidiaries and other co-investment entities. We operate through three reportable business segments: triple-net leased properties, senior living operations, which we also refer to as SHOP, and office operations. See “Note 2 – Accounting Policies” and “Note 19 – Segment Information.” Our senior housing properties are either operated under triple-net leases in our triple-net leased properties segment or through independent third-party managers in our senior living operations segment. As of December 31, 2020, we leased a total of 366 properties (excluding properties within our office operations reportable business segment) to various healthcare operating companies under “triple-net” or “absolute-net” leases that obligate the tenants to pay all property-related expenses, including maintenance, utilities, repairs, taxes, insurance and capital expenditures. Our three largest tenants, Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Brookdale Senior Living”), Ardent Health Partners, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Ardent”) and Kindred Healthcare, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Kindred”) leased from us 121 properties (excluding eight properties managed by Brookdale Senior Living pursuant to long-term management agreements), 12 properties and 32 properties, respectively, as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, pursuant to long-term management agreements, we engaged independent managers, such as Atria Senior Living, Inc. (“Atria”) and Sunrise Senior Living, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Sunrise”), to manage the 441 senior housing communities in our senior living operations segment for us. Through our Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc. subsidiary and our ownership interest in PMB Real Estate Services LLC, we also provide MOB management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. In addition, from time to time, we make secured and non-mortgage loans and other investments relating to senior housing and healthcare operators or properties. COVID-19 Update During fiscal 2020 and continuing into fiscal 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected our businesses in a number of ways and is expected to continue to do so. Operating Results. Our senior living operations segment was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupancy decreased over the course of 2020, while operating expenses increased as our senior living communities responded to the pandemic, resulting in a significant decline in NOI compared to 2019. Our NNN senior housing tenants’ performance was similarly affected by COVID-19. During the course of 2020, we modified certain NNN senior housing leases to reset rent and provided other modest financial accommodations to certain NNN senior housing tenants who needed it as a result of COVID-19. We also wrote-off previously accrued straight-line rental income related to NNN senior housing tenants due to COVID-19. However, we benefited from our ongoing strategy of diversification, with our office and NNN healthcare businesses demonstrating resilience in the face of the pandemic. The Company’s NNN healthcare tenants benefited from significant government financial support that was deployed early and has partially offset the direct financial impact of the pandemic. Our office operations segment, which primarily serves MOB and research and innovation tenants that were less impacted by the pandemic, delivered steady performance throughout the year. Provider Relief Grants. In the third and fourth quarter of 2020, we applied for grants under Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Provider Relief Fund administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) on behalf of the assisted living communities in our senior living operations segment to partially mitigate losses attributable to COVID-19. These grants are intended to reimburse eligible providers for expenses incurred to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19 and lost revenues attributable to COVID-19. Recipients are not required to repay distributions from the Provider Relief Fund, provided that they attest to and comply with certain terms and conditions. See “Government Regulation—Governmental Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we received $34.3 million and $0.8 million in grants in connection with our Phase 2 and Phase 3 applications, respectively, and recognized these grants within property-level operating expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Income. Subsequent to December 31, 2020, we received $13.6 million in grants in connection with our Phase 3 applications, which we expect to recognize in 2021. While we have received all amounts under our Phase 2 applications and have begun to receive amounts under our Phase 3 applications, there can be no assurance that our remaining applications will be approved or that additional funds will ultimately be received. Any grants that are ultimately received and retained by us are not expected to fully offset the losses incurred in our senior living operating portfolio that are attributable to COVID-19. Further, although we continue to monitor and evaluate the terms and conditions associated with the Provider Relief Fund distributions, we cannot assure you that we will be in compliance with all requirements related to the payments received under the Provider Relief Fund. Capital Conservation Actions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we took precautionary steps to increase liquidity and preserve financial flexibility in light of the resulting uncertainty. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources; Recent Capital Conservation Actions.” As of February 16, 2021, we had approximately $3.0 billion in liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility and cash and cash equivalents on hand, with no borrowings outstanding under our commercial paper program and negligible near-term debt maturing. Continuing Impact. The trajectory and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains highly uncertain. The extent of the pandemic’s continuing and ultimate effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on a variety of factors, including the speed at which available vaccines can be successfully deployed; the rate of acceptance of available vaccines, particularly among the residents and staff in our senior housing communities; the impact of new variants of the virus and the effectiveness of available vaccines against those variants; ongoing clinical experience, which may differ considerably across regions and fluctuate over time; and on other future developments, including the ultimate duration, spread and intensity of the outbreak, the availability of testing, the extent to which governments impose, roll back or re-impose preventative restrictions and the availability of ongoing government financial support to our business, tenants and operators. Due to these uncertainties, we are not able at this time to estimate the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We have not identified the COVID-19 pandemic, on its own, as a “triggering event” for purposes of evaluating impairment of real estate assets, goodwill and other intangibles, investments in unconsolidated entities and financial instruments. However, as of December 31, 2020, we considered the effect of the pandemic on certain of our assets (described below) and our ability to recover the respective carrying values of these assets. We applied our considerations to existing critical accounting policies that require us to make estimates and assumptions regarding future events that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities. We based our estimates on our experience and on assumptions we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. As a result, we have recognized the following charges for the year ended December 31, 2020: •Adjustment to rental income: As of December 31, 2020, we concluded that it is probable we will not collect substantially all rents from certain tenants, primarily within our triple-net leased properties segment. As a result, we recognized adjustments to rental income of $74.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Rental payments from these tenants will be recognized in rental income when received. •Impairment of real estate assets: During 2020, we compared our estimate of undiscounted cash flows, including a hypothetical terminal value, for certain real estate assets to the assets’ respective carrying values. During 2020 we recognized $126.5 million of impairments representing the difference between the assets’ carrying value and the then-estimated fair value of $239.9 million. The impaired assets, primarily senior housing communities, represent approximately 1% of our consolidated net real estate property as of December 31, 2020. Impairments are recorded within depreciation and amortization in our Consolidated Statements of Income and are primarily related to our senior living operations reportable business segment. •Loss on financial instruments and impairment of unconsolidated entities: As of December 31, 2020, we concluded that credit losses exist within certain of our non-mortgage loans receivable and government-sponsored pooled loan investments. As a result, we recognized credit loss charges of $34.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 within allowance on loans receivable and investments in our Consolidated Statements of Income. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we received $10.5 million as a principal payment on previously reserved loans. No allowances are recorded within our portfolios of secured mortgage loans or marketable debt securities. In addition, during 2020 we recognized an impairment of $10.7 million in an equity investment in an unconsolidated entity also recorded within allowance on loans receivable and investments in our Consolidated Statements of Income. •Deferred tax asset valuation allowance: During 2020, we concluded that it was not more likely than not that deferred tax assets (primarily US federal NOL carryforwards which begin to expire in 2032) would be realized based on our cumulative loss in recent years for certain of our taxable REIT subsidiaries. As a result, we recorded a valuation allowance of $56.4 million against these deferred tax assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with a corresponding charge to income tax benefit (expense) in our Consolidated Statements of Income. We maintained our conclusions regarding the realizability of deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2020.

Ventas, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated or except where the context otherwise requires, “we,” “us” or “our”), an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) operating at the intersection of healthcare and real estate, with a highly diversified portfolio of senior housing; life science, research and innovation; and healthcare properties; which we generally refer to as “healthcare real estate,” located throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2020, we owned or managed through unconsolidated real estate entities approximately 1,200 properties and properties classified as held for sale, consisting of senior housing communities, medical office buildings (“MOBs”), life science, research and innovation centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”) and long-term acute care facilities (“LTACs”), and health systems. Our company was originally founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with an additional office in Louisville, Kentucky.

We primarily invest in a diversified portfolio of healthcare real estate asset through wholly owned subsidiaries and other co-investment entities. We operate through three reportable business segments: triple-net leased properties, senior living operations, which we also refer to as SHOP, and office operations. See “Note 2 – Accounting Policies” and “Note 19 – Segment Information.” Our senior housing properties are either operated under triple-net leases in our triple-net leased properties segment or through independent third-party managers in our senior living operations segment.

As of December 31, 2020, we leased a total of 366 properties (excluding properties within our office operations reportable business segment) to various healthcare operating companies under “triple-net” or “absolute-net” leases that obligate the tenants to pay all property-related expenses, including maintenance, utilities, repairs, taxes, insurance and capital expenditures. Our three largest tenants, Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Brookdale Senior Living”), Ardent Health Partners, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Ardent”) and Kindred Healthcare, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Kindred”) leased from us 121 properties (excluding eight properties managed by Brookdale Senior Living pursuant to long-term management agreements), 12 properties and 32 properties, respectively, as of December 31, 2020.

As of December 31, 2020, pursuant to long-term management agreements, we engaged independent managers, such as Atria Senior Living, Inc. (“Atria”) and Sunrise Senior Living, LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “Sunrise”), to manage the 441 senior housing communities in our senior living operations segment for us.

Through our Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc. subsidiary and our ownership interest in PMB Real Estate Services LLC, we also provide MOB management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. In addition, from time to time, we make secured and non-mortgage loans and other investments relating to senior housing and healthcare operators or properties.

Operating Results. Our senior living operations segment was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupancy decreased over the course of 2020, while operating expenses increased as our senior living communities responded to the pandemic, resulting in a significant decline in NOI compared to 2019. Our NNN senior housing tenants’ performance was similarly affected by COVID-19. During the course of 2020, we modified certain NNN senior housing leases to reset rent and provided other modest financial accommodations to certain NNN senior housing tenants who needed it as a result of COVID-19. We also wrote-off previously accrued straight-line rental income related to NNN senior housing tenants due to COVID-19.

However, we benefited from our ongoing strategy of diversification, with our office and NNN healthcare businesses demonstrating resilience in the face of the pandemic. The Company’s NNN healthcare tenants benefited from significant government financial support that was deployed early and has partially offset the direct financial impact of the pandemic. Our office operations segment, which primarily serves MOB and research and innovation tenants that were less impacted by the pandemic, delivered steady performance throughout the year.

Provider Relief Grants. In the third and fourth quarter of 2020, we applied for grants under Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Provider Relief Fund administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) on behalf of the assisted living communities in our senior living operations segment to partially mitigate losses attributable to COVID-19. These grants

are intended to reimburse eligible providers for expenses incurred to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19 and lost revenues attributable to COVID-19. Recipients are not required to repay distributions from the Provider Relief Fund, provided that they attest to and comply with certain terms and conditions. See “Government Regulation—Governmental Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report.

During the fourth quarter of 2020, we received $34.3 million and $0.8 million in grants in connection with our Phase 2 and Phase 3 applications, respectively, and recognized these grants within property-level operating expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Income. Subsequent to December 31, 2020, we received $13.6 million in grants in connection with our Phase 3 applications, which we expect to recognize in 2021. While we have received all amounts under our Phase 2 applications and have begun to receive amounts under our Phase 3 applications, there can be no assurance that our remaining applications will be approved or that additional funds will ultimately be received. Any grants that are ultimately received and retained by us are not expected to fully offset the losses incurred in our senior living operating portfolio that are attributable to COVID-19. Further, although we continue to monitor and evaluate the terms and conditions associated with the Provider Relief Fund distributions, we cannot assure you that we will be in compliance with all requirements related to the payments received under the Provider Relief Fund.

Capital Conservation Actions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we took precautionary steps to increase liquidity and preserve financial flexibility in light of the resulting uncertainty. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources; Recent Capital Conservation Actions.” As of February 16, 2021, we had approximately $3.0 billion in liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility and cash and cash equivalents on hand, with no borrowings outstanding under our commercial paper program and negligible near-term debt maturing.

Continuing Impact. The trajectory and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains highly uncertain. The extent of the pandemic’s continuing and ultimate effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on a variety of factors, including the speed at which available vaccines can be successfully deployed; the rate of acceptance of available vaccines, particularly among the residents and staff in our senior housing communities; the impact of new variants of the virus and the effectiveness of available vaccines against those variants; ongoing clinical experience, which may differ considerably across regions and fluctuate over time; and on other future developments, including the ultimate duration, spread and intensity of the outbreak, the availability of testing, the extent to which governments impose, roll back or re-impose preventative restrictions and the availability of ongoing government financial support to our business, tenants and operators. Due to these uncertainties, we are not able at this time to estimate the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We have not identified the COVID-19 pandemic, on its own, as a “triggering event” for purposes of evaluating impairment of real estate assets, goodwill and other intangibles, investments in unconsolidated entities and financial instruments. However, as of December 31, 2020, we considered the effect of the pandemic on certain of our assets (described below) and our ability to recover the respective carrying values of these assets. We applied our considerations to existing critical accounting policies that require us to make estimates and assumptions regarding future events that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities. We based our estimates on our experience and on assumptions we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. As a result, we have recognized the following charges for the year ended December 31, 2020:

•Adjustment to rental income: As of December 31, 2020, we concluded that it is probable we will not collect substantially all rents from certain tenants, primarily within our triple-net leased properties segment. As a result, we recognized adjustments to rental income of $74.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Rental payments from these tenants will be recognized in rental income when received.

•Impairment of real estate assets: During 2020, we compared our estimate of undiscounted cash flows, including a hypothetical terminal value, for certain real estate assets to the assets’ respective carrying values. During 2020 we recognized $126.5 million of impairments representing the difference between the assets’ carrying value and the then-estimated fair value of $239.9 million. The impaired assets, primarily senior housing communities, represent approximately 1% of our consolidated net real estate property as of December 31, 2020. Impairments are recorded within depreciation and amortization in our Consolidated Statements of Income and are primarily related to our senior living operations reportable business segment.

•Loss on financial instruments and impairment of unconsolidated entities: As of December 31, 2020, we concluded that credit losses exist within certain of our non-mortgage loans receivable and government-sponsored pooled loan investments. As a result, we recognized credit loss charges of $34.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 within allowance on loans receivable and investments in our Consolidated Statements of Income. During the fourth

quarter of 2020, we received $10.5 million as a principal payment on previously reserved loans. No allowances are recorded within our portfolios of secured mortgage loans or marketable debt securities. In addition, during 2020 we recognized an impairment of $10.7 million in an equity investment in an unconsolidated entity also recorded within allowance on loans receivable and investments in our Consolidated Statements of Income.

•Deferred tax asset valuation allowance: During 2020, we concluded that it was not more likely than not that deferred tax assets (primarily US federal NOL carryforwards which begin to expire in 2032) would be realized based on our cumulative loss in recent years for certain of our taxable REIT subsidiaries. As a result, we recorded a valuation allowance of $56.4 million against these deferred tax assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets with a corresponding charge to income tax benefit (expense) in our Consolidated Statements of Income. We maintained our conclusions regarding the realizability of deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2020.