Commitments And Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended						1 Months Ended						3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 properties	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 properties	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Mar. 31, 2010 Acquisition Helix Healthcare [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] properties	Jun. 11, 2012 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] beds_or_units	Oct. 01, 2012 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member] beds_or_units	Mar. 31, 2012 Bickford Commitment [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Bickford Commitment [Member] beds_or_units properties Y	Oct. 31, 2011 Contingent Payment [Member] Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member]	Apr. 12, 2012 Capital Funding Group [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Construction Loans [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Construction Loans [Member] beds_or_units	Oct. 01, 2012 Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Sep. 30, 2012 Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Sep. 29, 2012 Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties
Number of Real Estate Properties To Be Constructed																8						8
Construction Commitment Period in Years																3						3
Number of years in initial lease term											15			15								5
Initial lease rate											9.00%	10.00%
Loans and Leases Receivable, Commitments, Fixed Rates															$ 3,000,000
Loans and Leases Receivable, Net Amount	79,325,000		79,325,000		78,672,000													5,000,000				61,000
Significant acquisitions and disposals, acquisition costs or sale proceeds						3,200,000	4,500,000	52,667,000	12,500,000	55,278,000							5,478,000
Conditional future payments related to purchase/leaseback transaction									1,000,000
Conditional payment period, years										2
Number of Real Estate Properties	109		109					2		4											10		8
Loans and Leases Receivable, Description															3
Construction loan commitment																				13,870,000
Supplemental Construction Loan Commitment Draw																			2,000,000
Tax Adjustments, Settlements, and Unusual Provisions	180,000
Loan Funding Committment																		15,000,000
Loan Term																		3
Note Receivable Interest Rate																		13.50%
Operating Leases, Income Statement, Lease Revenue	22,285,000	19,975,000	64,905,000	59,868,000
Significant development and lease transactions														21,500,000
Construction of transitional rehabilitation center, number of beds																				70
Number of beds in real estate property											125			60		60
Real Estate Investment Property, at Cost	688,772,000		688,772,000		541,493,000								19,022,000
Construction in Progress, Gross	718,000		718,000		4,983,000
Total Average Cost of Building Commitment																9,000,000
Number of Development Projects per Year																3
Loss Contingency, Settlement Agreement, Consideration	$ 0		$ 0