Real Estate (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended							12 Months Ended			15 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended																12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 properties	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 properties	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 properties	Jan. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 White Pine Senior Living [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Landmark Senior Living [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Acquisition Chancellor Health Care [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Legend Kyle [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Legend Healthcare [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] renewalOptions properties Y	Dec. 31, 2014 National Healthcare Corporation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] renewalOptions properties Y	Dec. 31, 2011 National Healthcare Corporation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 National Healthcare Corporation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2011 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Milestone Retirement Communities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Current year [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Current year [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Current year [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Final determination based on prior year revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Final determination based on prior year revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Final determination based on prior year revenues [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bickford Commitment [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Landmark Senior Living [Member] beds_or_units	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] properties	May 31, 2011 Acquisition Selah Management Group [Member] beds_or_units properties	Oct. 02, 2012 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Acquisition Polaris Hospital Company [Member] beds_or_units	Jun. 11, 2012 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] beds_or_units	Oct. 31, 2011 Acquisition Legend Healthcare [Member] beds_or_units properties	Aug. 31, 2012 Acquisition Sante Partners [Member] beds_or_units	Dec. 31, 2012 Acquisition Chancellor Health Care [Member] beds_or_units	Dec. 31, 2012 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member] properties	Oct. 02, 2012 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member] beds_or_units properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Milestone Retirement Communities [Member] properties beds_or_units	Dec. 31, 2012 Disposal [Member]	Aug. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member] beds_or_units	Jan. 31, 2011 Disposal [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Disposal [Member] Legend Healthcare [Member] properties	Feb. 28, 2011 Disposal [Member] Current Tenant of 2 MOB's [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] National Healthcare Corporation [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Minnesota [Member] properties beds_or_units	Dec. 31, 2012 Minnesota [Member] Lease Transition, New Tenant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minnesota [Member] Lease Transition, Old Tenant [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Assisted Living Facility [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Independent Living Facility [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Living Campus [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing Facility [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Medical Office Building [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Hospital [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Purchase Option Tenant Granted [Member] Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 Construction in Progress [Member] Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Accumulated Depreciation [Member] Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Building and Building Improvements [Member] Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Building and Building Improvements [Member] Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Land [Member] Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Land [Member] Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Land [Member] Acquisition Bickford Senior Living [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] Independent Living Facility [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] Skilled Nursing Facility [Member] properties	Dec. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member] Skilled Nursing Facility [Member] Subleased Facilities [Member] properties
Number of Real Estate Properties	107							107			107							41		41			5				10										6	4				4			2		2	3				2	2	6	4			39	3	5	55	2	3	3								35	3	32	4
Number of States in which Entity Operates	25							25			25
Real Estate Investment Property, Portfolio Assets	$ 698,293,000							$ 698,293,000			$ 698,293,000
Number of Lessees	19							19			19
Revenues	26,819,000	24,297,000	21,817,000	24,020,000	21,578,000	21,369,000	21,691,000	96,953,000	87,213,000	82,579,000	22,575,000
Significant Acquisition, Cost, Debt Assumed																																													19,250,000		19,250,000
Number of Development Projects per Year																																			3
Maximum Commitment For All Active Development Projects																										27,000,000									27,000,000
Construction and Development Costs																										4,016,000																																							2,183,000					1,833,000
Real Estate, Assets Held For Sale, Sales Price																																																						21,000,000
Purchase Option Amount																							18,500,000
Carrying value of assets reclassified from held for sale to held and used																							29,381,000																																											(9,942,000)	37,588,000		1,735,000
Depreciation, Continuing Operations								16,579,000	11,549,000	10,601,000													2,398,000
Joint Venture Operating Company Ownership Interest Received																											85.00%
Number of additional lease renewal options																		3		3
Term of the lease renewal option period in years																		15		15
Percentage Rent Rate																				0.04
Operating Leases, Income Statement, Lease Revenue								85,115,000	76,078,000	70,917,000			1,643,000		341,000	839,000				33,056,000	32,619,000	31,985,000	4,965,000	4,777,000	4,226,000
Percentage of Continuing Revenue																				34.00%	37.00%	39.00%
Investment Owned, Balance, Shares	1,630,462							1,630,462			1,630,462
Percentage rent								2,306,000	1,869,000	1,235,000																			1,243,000	1,234,000	750,000	1,063,000	635,000	485,000
New Real Estate Investments and Commitments								159,457,000																											27,000,000
Lease Extension Period in Years																							3
Significant acquisitions and disposals, acquisition costs or sale proceeds																																				20,200,000		15,000,000				55,278,000	25,120,000	12,000,000			52,667,000	9,000,000	23,000,000	3,200,000	4,500,000		5,271,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price																																									13,470,000	39,530,000
Significant Acquisition, Cost, Cash																																															22,453,000
Base rent revenue																		33,700,000	30,750,000																																					2,338,000	2,204,000
Business Acquisition, Contingent Consideration, Potential Cash Payment	3,256,000							3,256,000	5,478,000		3,256,000						3,256,000																									5,478,000
Contingent Consideration Period, Years																																										2
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Transaction Costs																																									95,000
Net income attributable to common stockholders	41,105,000	14,350,000	16,927,000	18,349,000	18,808,000	25,117,000	19,093,000	90,731,000	81,132,000	69,421,000	18,114,000				0	587,000
Number of Units in Real Estate Property																																				120		183				498	138	181			170	101		60					126
Joint Venture Contributed Properties Ownership Interest Retained																											85.00%
Average age of facilities																																						13				2
Age of Facilities Years Range Begin																																																							4
Age of Facilities Years Range End																																																							8
Number of years in initial lease term														15													5	10										15		15	15	15	15	15											13
Initial Lease Amount																							4,989,000																								7,750,000
Capital Improvements Commitment																																											3,500,000
Initial Lease Rate, Capital Improvements																																											8.30%
Initial lease rate																																			9.00%	7.75%		8.50%	10.00%		9.00%	9.00%	7.80%	9.00%		9.00%		7.75%
Business Combination, Number of Real Estate Properties Acquired																																										3
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Land																																									1,096,000	2,694,000		1,200,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Buildings																																										36,836,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Buildings and Improvement																																									12,279,000			10,500,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Equipment																																												300,000
Lease Escalator Rate	3.00%							3.00%			3.00%
Assets held for sale, net	1,611,000							1,611,000	29,381,000		1,611,000																																										3,433,000
Carrying value of assets sold												4,039,000																																					11,009,000	2,152,000
Significant development and lease transactions																																								21,500,000
Number of beds in real estate property																																								60	125
Asset Purchase Portion Of Significant Acquisition																																										15,748,000
Accumulated straight-line rent adjustment, write-off								963,000
Lease Receivable, Write Off	126,000
Other Restructuring Costs	171,000
Supplemental Rental Income, Initial Lease Year																																																							410,000
Joint Venture Contributed Properties Ownership Interest Surrendered																																															15.00%
Joint Venture Contributed Properties Ownership Interest Surrendered Estimated Fair Value																																															10,964,000
Real Estate Investments, Joint Ventures																																															41,436,000																					37,336,000			4,100,000
Cash Paid In Settlement Of Contingent Purchase Consideration Liability																	2,222,000																												2,922,000
Noncontrolling Interest in Joint Ventures																																															8,309,000
Estimated Value, Real Estate, Contribution Agreement					$ 92,343,000