Real Estate Investments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended							3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended				6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 Mortgage Loans property states operator	Jun. 30, 2012 Mortgage Loans loan property states operator	Jun. 30, 2011 Mortgage Loans	Jun. 30, 2012 Mortgage Loans Minimum Y	Jun. 30, 2012 Mortgage Loans Maximum Y	Jun. 30, 2012 Owned Properties property operator states	Jun. 30, 2012 Owned Properties Minimum Y	Jun. 30, 2012 Owned Properties Maximum Y	Jun. 30, 2012 SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 ILF Units Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans property loan USDperbedunit	Jun. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans loan USDperbedunit property	Jun. 30, 2011 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans loan property	Aug. 31, 2012 Skilled Nursing Mortgage Loans Texas item	Jun. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing Owned Properties property USDperbedunit	Jun. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Skilled Nursing SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Assisted Living Mortgage Loans loan property USDperbedunit	Jun. 30, 2011 Assisted Living Mortgage Loans property	Jun. 30, 2012 Assisted Living Owned Properties property USDperbedunit	Jun. 30, 2012 Assisted Living ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Assisted Living ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2011 Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Mortgage Loans	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing Mortgage Loans loan USDperbedunit property	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing Owned Properties USDperbedunit property	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing SNF Beds Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing SNF Beds Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing ALF Units Mortgage Loans Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing ALF Units Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Other Senior Housing ILF Units Owned Properties Unit	Jun. 30, 2012 Schools Owned Properties property	Jun. 30, 2012 Under development Owned Properties
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	$ 50,246,000	$ 50,246,000				$ 743,297,000								$ 24,712,000	$ 24,712,000			$ 377,381,000			$ 22,553,000		$ 285,981,000				$ 2,981,000	$ 64,704,000						$ 12,236,000	$ 2,995,000
Percentage of Investments	100.00%	100.00%				100.00%								49.20%	49.20%			50.80%			44.90%		38.50%				5.90%	8.70%						1.60%	0.40%
Number of Loans		28													18						9						1
Number of properties	34	34				171								19	19			68			14		88				1	13						2
Number of Beds/Units									2,211	8,839	498	4,197	423						2,112	8,025				424	3,941				99	814	74	256	423
Average Investment per Bed/Unit														11,700	11,700			47,030			53,190		72,570				17,230	43,340
Number of states	12	12				25
Number of operators	12	12				31
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)		14.20%
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%
Amount received related to payoff of loan, excluding accrued interest														2,363,000			493,000									1,908,000
Number of units/beds at the property securing mortgage loans paid off																	118
Mortgage loans
Scheduled principal payments received	$ 671,000	$ 1,389,000	$ 1,712,000
Number of loans paid off														2		2
Number of properties securing mortgage loans paid off														2		4						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%