Investments in and Advances to Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 HCR ManorCare	Mar. 31, 2012 HCR ManorCare	Apr. 07, 2011 HCR ManorCare	Mar. 31, 2013 HCP Ventures III, LLC item	Mar. 31, 2013 HCP Ventures IV, LLC item	Dec. 31, 2012 HCP Life Science item	Mar. 31, 2013 HCP Life Science item	Mar. 31, 2013 HCP Life Science Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 HCP Life Science Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Torrey Pines Science Center, LP	Mar. 31, 2013 Britannia Biotech Gateway, LP	Mar. 31, 2013 LASDK, LP	Mar. 31, 2013 Horizon Bay Hyde Park, LLC item	Mar. 31, 2013 Suburban Properties, LLC item	Mar. 31, 2013 Advances to unconsolidated joint ventures, net	Mar. 31, 2013 Edgewood Assisted Living Center, LLC item	Mar. 31, 2013 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	$ 209,810,000		$ 212,213,000	$ 88,827,000			$ 7,410,000	$ 31,480,000		$ 68,287,000						$ 6,581,000	$ 7,044,000	$ 181,000
Investment reported in liabilities	(1,132,000)																		(704,000)	(428,000)
Investment ownership percentage				9.50%		9.90%	30.00%	20.00%			50.00%	63.00%	50.00%	55.00%	63.00%	72.00%	67.00%		45.00%	50.00%
Number of unconsolidated joint ventures									3
Reduction in DFL income				15,900,000	14,700,000
Summarized combined financial information for unconsolidated joint ventures:
Real estate, net	3,706,411,000		3,731,740,000
Goodwill and other assets, net	5,875,013,000		5,734,318,000
Total assets	9,581,424,000		9,466,058,000
Capital lease obligations and mortgage debt	6,844,859,000		6,875,932,000
Accounts payable	1,108,324,000		971,095,000
Other partners' capital	1,445,199,000		1,435,885,000
HCP's capital	183,042,000		183,146,000
Total liabilities and partners' capital	9,581,424,000		9,466,058,000
Combined basis difference	25,000,000
Total revenues	1,093,374,000	1,044,509,000
Net income	10,584,000	1,125,000
HCP's share in earnings	14,801,000	13,675,000
Fees earned by HCP	443,000	493,000
Distributions received by HCP	$ 1,371,000	$ 3,629,000