Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)			3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing	Mar. 31, 2011 Skilled Nursing property Unit payment	Dec. 31, 2011 Skilled Nursing	Mar. 31, 2011 Skilled Nursing Maximum	Mar. 31, 2012 Capital improvement commitment expiring 8/1/2012 Skilled Nursing property	Mar. 31, 2012 Capital improvement commitment expiring 10/11/2013 Skilled Nursing	Mar. 31, 2012 Capital improvement commitment expiring 10/11/2013 Skilled Nursing SNF Beds Unit	Mar. 31, 2012 Capital improvement commitment expiring 12/31/2014 Assisted Living D Y property	Apr. 30, 2012 Capital improvement commitment expiring 4/30/2013 Skilled Nursing property	Mar. 31, 2012 Loan commitment expiring 12/31/2012 Other Senior Housing property	Mar. 31, 2012 Loan commitment expiring 12/31/2012 Other Senior Housing property	Mar. 31, 2012 Loan commitment expiring 3/31/2013 Other Senior Housing property
Commitments and Contingencies
Number of Properties				4
Number of beds/units acquired				524					120
Number of earn-out payments				2
Contingent earn-out payment, maximum						$ 11,000,000
Earn-out liabilities	6,414,000	6,305,000	6,414,000		6,305,000
Non-cash interest expense			110,000
Commitment	13,350,000						100,000	8,250,000		5,000,000	1,700,000		2,500,000
Used Commitment	148,000						98,000	50,000			86,000		1,034,000
Open Commitment	13,202,000						2,000	8,200,000		5,000,000
Estimated yield (as a percent)								9.00%			9.00%	8.50%	8.50%
Minimum rent calculation multiplier (as a percent)											9.00%
Commitment	2,550,000											2,500,000		50,000
Used Commitment	1,287,000											1,267,000		20,000
Open Commitment	$ 1,263,000											$ 1,233,000		$ 30,000
Estimated yield (as a percent)												8.50%	8.50%	10.00%
Properties												2	2	1
Properties							1			37	2	2	2
Reference rate for estimated yield (as a percent)										9.50%
Maturity period of US Treasury note (in years)										10
Number of days prior to funding										5
Basis points added/deducted from the base rate (as a percent)										4.20%