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Description of Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2012
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Description of Business | Description of Business Ventas, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated or except where the context otherwise requires, “we,” “us” or “our”) is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) with a highly diversified portfolio of seniors housing and healthcare properties located throughout the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2012, we owned more than 1,400 properties, including seniors housing communities, skilled nursing and other facilities, medical office buildings (“MOBs”), and hospitals, in 46 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces, and we had three new properties under development. We are an S&P 500 company and currently headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. We primarily acquire and own seniors housing and healthcare properties and lease our properties to unaffiliated tenants or operate them through independent third-party managers. As of December 31, 2012, we leased 898 properties (excluding MOBs and properties classified as held for sale) to healthcare operating companies under “triple-net” or “absolute-net” leases that obligate the tenants to pay all property-related expenses, including maintenance, utilities, repairs, taxes, insurance and capital expenditures, and we engaged independent operators, such as Atria Senior Living, Inc. (“Atria”) and Sunrise Senior Living, LLC (formerly Sunrise Senior Living, Inc. and, together with its affiliates, “Sunrise”), to manage 223 of our seniors housing communities pursuant to long-term management agreements. Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Kindred”) and Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (together with its subsidiaries, “Brookdale Senior Living”) leased from us 196 properties and 148 properties (excluding six properties included in investments in unconsolidated entities), respectively, as of December 31, 2012. In addition, through our Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc. (“Lillibridge”) subsidiary and our ownership interest in PMB Real Estate Services LLC (“PMBRES”), we provide MOB management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. From time to time, we also make secured and unsecured loans and other investments relating to seniors housing and healthcare operators or properties.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings). + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6003-108592 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Statement of Position (SOP) -Number 94-6 -Paragraph 10 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. + Details
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