Real Estate Investments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended							1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 Mortgage Loans loan operator property states	Mar. 31, 2011 Mortgage Loans	Mar. 31, 2012 Mortgage Loans Minimum Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Mortgage Loans Maximum Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Owned Properties property states operator	Mar. 31, 2012 Owned Properties Minimum Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Owned Properties Maximum Y	Mar. 31, 2012 SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 ILF Units Owned Properties Unit	May 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans	Apr. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans	Mar. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans loan property USDperbedunit	Mar. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing Owned Properties USDperbedunit property	Mar. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Assisted Living Mortgage Loans loan USDperbedunit property	Mar. 31, 2011 Assisted Living Mortgage Loans property loan	Mar. 31, 2012 Assisted Living Owned Properties property USDperbedunit	Mar. 31, 2012 Assisted Living ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Assisted Living ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing Mortgage Loans loan property USDperbedunit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing Owned Properties USDperbedunit property	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Other Senior Housing ILF Units Owned Properties Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Schools Owned Properties property	Mar. 31, 2012 Under development Owned Properties
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	$ 53,282,000				$ 740,951,000										$ 27,578,000	$ 377,143,000			$ 22,666,000		$ 285,981,000			$ 3,038,000	$ 64,704,000						$ 12,229,000	$ 894,000
Percentage of Investments	100.00%				100.00%										51.80%	50.90%			42.50%		38.60%			5.70%	8.70%						1.70%	0.10%
Number of Loans	30														20				9					1
Number of properties	36				171										21	68			14		88			1	13						2
Number of Beds/Units								2,425	8,839	498	4,197	423					2,326	8,025				424	3,941			99	814	74	256	423
Average Investment per Bed/Unit															11,860	47,000			53,460		72,570			17,560	43,340
Number of states	12				25
Number of operators	14				30
Interest rate for mortgage loans, low end of range (as a percent)	10.00%
Interest rate for mortgage loans, high end of range (as a percent)	14.60%
General amortization schedule of mortgage loans (in years)			20	25
Specified basis points for annual increase in interest rate (as a percent)			0.10%	0.25%
Mortgage loans
Scheduled principal payments received	718,000	961,000
Amount received related to payoff of loan, excluding accrued interest													$ 135,000	$ 2,264,000						$ 1,005,000
Number of loans paid off																				1
Number of properties securing mortgage loans paid off																				1
Operating leases
Initial term of non-cancelable operating lease (in years)						10	15
Specified annual increase over the prior year's rent (as a percent)						2.00%	3.00%