Investments in and Advances to Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 HCR ManorCare	Sep. 30, 2011 HCR ManorCare	Jun. 30, 2011 HCR ManorCare	Sep. 30, 2012 HCR ManorCare	Sep. 30, 2011 HCR ManorCare	Sep. 30, 2012 HCP Ventures III, LLC item	Sep. 30, 2012 HCP Ventures IV, LLC item	Sep. 30, 2012 HCP Life Science item	Sep. 30, 2012 HCP Life Science Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 HCP Life Science Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Torrey Pines Science Center, LP	Sep. 30, 2012 Britannia Biotech Gateway, LP	Sep. 30, 2012 LASDK, LP	Sep. 30, 2012 Horizon Bay Hyde Park, LLC item	Sep. 30, 2012 Suburban Properties, LLC item	Sep. 30, 2012 Advances to unconsolidated joint ventures, net	Sep. 30, 2012 Edgewood Assisted Living Center, LLC item	Sep. 30, 2012 Seminole Shores Living Center, LLC item
Company owned interests in entities, accounted under equity method:
Number of medical office buildings											13	54								1
Number of hospitals												4
Number of life science facilities													4
Number of senior housing facilities																			1			1	1
Investments in and advances to unconsolidated joint ventures	$ 217,092,000		$ 217,092,000		$ 224,052,000	$ 94,358,000			$ 94,358,000		$ 7,774,000	$ 33,071,000	$ 67,263,000						$ 6,927,000	$ 7,508,000	$ 191,000
Investment reported in liabilities	(1,186,000)		(1,186,000)																			(449,000)	(737,000)
Investment ownership percentage						9.90%			9.90%		30.00%	20.00%		50.00%	63.00%	50.00%	55.00%	63.00%	72.00%	67.00%		45.00%	50.00%
Ownership percentage presented after adjusting						9.40%			9.40%
Number of unconsolidated joint ventures													3
Payment to acquire equity method investment								95,000,000
Reduction in DFL income						14,900,000	14,400,000		44,400,000	27,700,000
Summarized combined financial information for unconsolidated joint ventures:
Real estate, net	3,751,592,000		3,751,592,000		3,806,187,000
Goodwill	2,736,400,000		2,736,400,000		2,736,400,000
Other assets, net	3,019,757,000		3,019,757,000		3,061,290,000
Total assets	9,507,749,000		9,507,749,000		9,603,877,000
Capital lease obligations and other debt	6,014,200,000		6,014,200,000		5,976,500,000
Mortgage debt	887,956,000		887,956,000		895,243,000
Accounts payable	954,622,000		954,622,000		1,083,581,000
Other partners' capital	1,467,292,000		1,467,292,000		1,465,536,000
HCP's capital	183,679,000		183,679,000		183,017,000
Total liabilities and partners' capital	9,507,749,000		9,507,749,000		9,603,877,000
Combined basis difference	32,000,000		32,000,000
Total revenues	1,057,567,000	1,123,742,000	3,196,086,000	2,174,711,000
Net income (loss)	(8,851,000)	31,076,000	8,416,000	9,198,000
HCP's share in earnings	13,396,000	17,050,000	42,803,000	32,798,000
Fees earned by HCP	460,000	494,000	1,423,000	1,605,000
Distributions received by HCP	$ 1,419,000	$ 1,271,000	$ 4,826,000	$ 4,398,000