Discontinued Operations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended							3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 properties	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012 Sunrise Senior Living [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 National Healthcare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 National Healthcare Corporation [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings [Member] properties	Mar. 31, 2013 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] National Healthcare Corporation [Member] properties	Mar. 31, 2012 Assets Held-for-sale [Member] National Healthcare Corporation [Member]
Number of Real Estate Properties	107						5	6
Real Estate, Assets Held For Sale, Sales Price								$ 21,000,000
Lease Extension Period in Years							3
Operating Leases, Income Statement, Lease Revenue	25,050,000	21,296,000		8,947,000	9,012,000	1,223,000
Revenues	915,000	1,234,000	343,000					915,000	891,000
Depreciation, Continuing Operations	$ 4,415,000	$ 3,264,000