Dignity Health & Kaiser Permanente Partnership

Dignity Health and Kaiser Permanente are partnering to meet the health care needs of the Stockton community by jointly owning St. Joseph's Medical Center.

Under the agreement, Dignity Health will retain an 80 percent ownership interest and Kaiser Permanente will purchase a 20 percent ownership interest in St. Joseph’s Medical Center and associated operations in Stockton, including St. Joseph’s Behavioral Health Center. 

The name of the hospital will remain St. Joseph’s Medical Center. 

Beginning in mid-2016, St. Joseph’s Medical Center will become both a Dignity Health and Kaiser Permanente facility governed by a joint board of directors. St. Joseph’s Medical Center executives will maintain responsibility for day to day hospital operations and staff.  

“We look forward to welcoming Kaiser Permanente members and physicians,” said Don Wiley, St. Joseph’s Medical Center’s president and chief executive officer. “We are excited about the opportunity to enhance our capabilities and collaborate for the benefit of our patients, physicians and the community.”

“Both St. Joseph’s Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente have a long and proud record of service to the Stockton-San Joaquin area and we believe this is a great opportunity to learn and innovate together,” said Kaiser Permanente senior vice president and area manager Deborah Friberg.

The partnership will help ensure a stable, financially strong hospital that will serve the needs of the community now and into the future and advance both organizations’ goals of providing high-quality, affordable care: 

• In preparation for the partnership, St. Joseph’s Medical Center will expand several areas of the hospital, starting with the Emergency Department.
• The partnership will enable more investment in both inpatient and outpatient services.
• The expanded medical staff will provide new opportunities for collaboration among physicians.
• St. Joseph’s Medical Center will be able to draw upon the expertise of both Dignity Health and Kaiser Permanente for quality and service improvements, initiatives and best practices.

St. Joseph’s Medical Center has been providing health care and community benefit support to the Stockton area for nearly 120 years. The hospital will continue to be sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. 

The hospital is nationally recognized as a quality leader and is consistently chosen as a preferred hospital by local consumers. St. Joseph’s Medical Center is the largest hospital and private employer in Stockton.

Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. The organization has been repeatedly honored for its award-winning hospitals and innovative approach to delivering care. Kaiser Permanente has been providing high-quality, affordable care for 70 years in California and nearly 40 years in the Stockton area.   

Both Kaiser Permanente and St. Joseph’s Medical Center are mission-driven, nonprofit organizations and will continue their strong commitment to their own community benefit programs. Kaiser Permanente will also contribute to St. Joseph’s charitable care services for the poor and underserved.

About Dignity Health

Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a 21-state network of 9,000 physicians, 59,000 employees, and more than 400 care centers, including hospitals, urgent and occupational care, imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved.  In FY15, Dignity Health provided $1.7 billion in charitable care and services. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health.