Commitments And Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 years properties	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011 years properties	Sep. 30, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011 Pending Commitments [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Helix Healthcare [Member]	Oct. 31, 2009 Bickford [Member]	May 31, 2011 Acquisition Selah Management Group [Member] years properties	Aug. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Disposal [Member] properties
Significant acquisitions and disposals, acquisition costs or sale proceeds					$ 49,800,000		$ 12,500,000	$ 28,250,000	$ 15,000,000	$ 3,200,000	$ 5,271,000	$ 4,500,000
Conditional future payments related to purchase/leaseback transaction							1,000,000	3,000,000
Conditional payment period, years								three
Number of health care real estate projects	93		93		4	3			4				2
Construction loan commitment	13,870,000		13,870,000
Funded amount towards construction loan commitment	11,669,000		11,669,000
Capital improvements commitment	750,000		750,000
Funded amount towards certain capital improvements	604,000		604,000
Mortgage note receivable commitment	50,000		50,000
Commitment Limit To Finance Current Lessee In Connection With Sale Of Nursing Facilities			8,000,000
Individual loans repayment period			5
Interest rate on asset sale loan commitment	11.50%		11.50%
Rental income	$ 18,765,000	$ 17,850,000	$ 56,259,000	$ 53,355,000