Ascension Health Ventures, the private-equity arm of the Ascension Health Alliance, acquired a stake in Advanced Practice Strategies, a healthcare education and litigation support company.

The Boston-based Advanced Practice Strategies said the capital infusion from Ascension Health Ventures was "substantial," according to a news release announcing the deal. A spokeswoman for APS, Victoria Keefe, said the company would not disclose Ascension Health Ventures' stake. An Ascension Health Ventures investment manager, Jeff Stolte, will join the APS board of directors, Keefe said.

Ascension Health Ventures is a subsidiary of Ascension Health Alliance, which includes Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic health system.

Ascension Health Ventures launched its first venture fund in 2001 and followed with a second fund in 2007 with partners Catholic Health Initiatives and Catholic Health East. Dignity Health, then Catholic Healthcare West, joined the second fund in 2008. Ascension Health Ventures launched a third fund earlier this year.