Kaiser to buy stake in Dignity Health hospital

Shortly after reports that Kaiser Permanente is in talks to affiliate with a big Michigan health system, Kaiser and Dignity Health unveiled a unique partnership in Stockton set to start next year. Both moves could be signs of fresh thinking at Kaiser, Dignity and elsewhere, as big health care organizations respond to sweeping changes in the American health care system. In Stockton, Kaiser is buying a 20 percent minority stake in St. Joseph's Medical Center, now wholly owned by San Francisco-based Dignity Health. Dignity will retain 80 percent ownership, and administer the facility on a day-to-day basis, but Kaiser doctors will practice there and admit patients.