Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center, a nationally ranked hospital soon be one of California’s largest, will be the strategic clinical partner of the planned School of Medicine at University of the Pacific, providing essential clinical learning opportunities for future physicians.

Under the partnership, Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center will place third- and fourth-year Pacific School of Medicine students in clinical rotations at St. Joseph’s in Stockton and other hospitals throughout the region.

“Our strategic collaboration with Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center is the centerpiece of our transformational new School of Medicine,” said Pacific President Christopher Callahan. “Our students will learn from caring, skilled doctors who live the values of humankindness every day, all in state-of-the-art health care facilities right here in the Central Valley, less than two miles from our campus. It’s the perfect partnership.”

David Ziolkowski, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Medical Center, who worked closely with the university president to develop the signature partnership, agreed, calling the two institutions “ideally aligned.”

“We are both deeply committed to our shared values of excellence, inclusion, integrity, collaboration and humankindness, and share an urgent desire to address the dangerous and growing physician shortage in San Joaquin County and across the Central Valley,” Ziolkowski said.

A member of CommonSpirit Health, Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center is a not-for-profit, fully accredited hospital that is ranked among the top 5% in the nation by Healthgrades and is consistently chosen as the most preferred hospital by area consumers. St. Joseph’s offers a full range of medical, surgical and diagnostic services and provides nearly $100 million annually in uncompensated patient care to the underserved.

The planned growth of both St. Joseph’s and Pacific is ideally timed.

Already the largest medical center in San Joaquin County with 355 beds, nearly 900 physicians and more than 2,300 employees, St. Joseph’s broke ground last month on a massive nearly $800 million expansion. A new state-of-the-art five-story patient care tower will add 120 general acute care beds, 24 intensive care unit beds, a 10-room surgical suite, a new emergency room and two helipads to the medical center.

With the expansion, St. Joseph’s Medical Center will be one of the largest hospitals in California outside of the Greater Los Angeles region, the Bay Area and Greater Sacramento.

The new tower is expected to be open by 2030, the same year Pacific hopes to welcome its inaugural cohort of medical students, pending accreditation approvals. The university plans to grow the medical school eventually to 400 students in a new 100,000-square-foot medical education complex on the historic Stockton Campus.

Both Stockton institutions also are cornerstones of their region.

Pacific, established as California’s first university in 1851, moved to Stockton to become the region’s first four-year university in 1924. St. Joseph’s Medical Center started as a 25-bed hospital run by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael in 1899.

“The new Pacific School of Medicine and this strategic partnership with Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center will be transformational for the growing health care needs of the region,” said Marty Ardron, senior vice president for hospital systems operations at Kaiser Permanente who serves on the boards of both institutions. “The physician shortage in the region is acute and growing. This partnership is a big step forward to addressing those needs.”

About St. Joseph’s Medical Center 

Dignity Health St. Joseph's Medical Center is a not-for-profit, fully accredited, regional hospital with 355 beds, a physician staff of over 700, and more than 2,700 employees. Specializing in cardiovascular care, comprehensive cancer services, and women and children's services, St. Joseph's is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable health care services with special attention to the poor and underserved. As a Sponsoring Institution for Graduate Medical Education, St. Joseph’s supports rapidly growing educational programs for both resident physicians and medical students. In addition to being nationally recognized as a quality leader, St. Joseph's is consistently chosen as the "most preferred hospital" by local consumers. St. Joseph's is the largest hospital, as well as one of the largest private employers in San Joaquin County. Founded in 1899 by Fr. William O'Connor and administered by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, St. Joseph's continues to lead the region in medical innovation. St. Joseph's Medical Center is a member of Dignity Health/CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit Catholic health system with care sites across 21 states dedicated to advancing health for all people. For more information, please visit DignityHealth.org/Stockton. 

About University of the Pacific

Founded in 1851, California’s first and oldest university is host to nearly 7,000 students in more than 160 undergraduate, graduate and professional academic programs across campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco. It is ranked in the Top 100 of American colleges and universities by The Wall Street Journal and will be only the 24^th university in the nation with schools of pharmacy, dentistry, health sciences and medicine.

The hallmark of a Pacific education is immersive learning, one-on-one relationships with faculty and experiential learning opportunities on and off our campuses. Pacific ranks No. 36 in social mobility nationally and is in the Top 2% in career earnings. Pacific also is the nation’s top private university that is designated by the U.S. Department of Education as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. It is ranked No. 4 for “Best Value” among all California schools—public and private—and is designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as both a top public service university and a leading “Opportunity College,” which measures both access to a college education regardless of socioeconomic background and earnings after graduation.