Real Estate Investments (Details) (Owned Properties, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014 item state property operator
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	$ 951,491
Percentage of Investments	100.00%
Number of properties	176
Number of states	27
Number of operators	33
Operating leases
Number of ways to compute annual rent increases	4
Minimum
Operating leases
Initial term of non-cancelable operating lease	10 years
Specified annual increase over the prior year's rent (as a percent)	2.00%
Maximum
Operating leases
Initial term of non-cancelable operating lease	15 years
Specified annual increase over the prior year's rent (as a percent)	3.00%
SNF Beds
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	8,898
ALF Units
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	4,903
Assisted Living
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	407,232
Percentage of Investments	42.80%
Number of properties	98
Average Investment per Bed/Unit	87,970
Assisted Living | ALF Units
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	4,629
Skilled Nursing
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	459,351
Percentage of Investments	48.30%
Number of properties	68
Average Investment per Bed/Unit	55,580
Number of beds/units under development	143
Skilled Nursing | SNF Beds
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	8,264
Range of Care
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	43,906
Percentage of Investments	4.60%
Number of properties	8
Average Investment per Bed/Unit	48,350
Range of Care | SNF Beds
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	634
Range of Care | ALF Units
Real Estate Investments
Number of Beds/Units	274
Under development
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	27,395
Percentage of Investments	2.90%
Other
Real Estate Investments
Gross Investments	$ 13,607
Percentage of Investments	1.40%
Number of properties	2
Number of parcels of land	4
Schools
Real Estate Investments
Number of properties	2
Memory care property
Real Estate Investments
Number of developments	3
Number of beds/units under development	168
Assisted living and Memory care property
Real Estate Investments
Number of beds/units under development	81