HERMANN — The local hospital has joined a consortium of 20 independent healthcare facilities in Missouri, a move aimed at improving its position in bargaining for better deals with insurance companies, government agencies and other organizations.

“We have signed the letter of engagement,” said Hermann Area District Hospital Chief Executive Officer Bill Hellebusch a the Monday afternoon Nov. 24 monthly meeting of the district’s Board of Directors. He was referring to the group of independent hospitals in Missouri gathering under the umbrella of CIBOLO, an organization that is administering groups of hospitals in several states with the purpose of strengthening those facilities’ position in negotiating deals with such entities as insurance companies.

Hellebusch noted that there are 29 independent hospitals in the state that could be part of the consortium. At this point, 20 of those have signed on. He said he “feels good” about another four or five joining the consortium. The remaining hospitals, he said, are large enough to be able to bargain on their own.

The effort to bring together the hospitals is moving quickly. Hellebusch said an upcoming CEO summit is aimed at establishing a board for the Missouri group.

“They want us to have this thing built by summer of 2026,” he said, explaining that a board needs to be in place by then in order to begin negotiations in 2027.

The Missouri group is the eighth such network of hospitals formed under the CIBOLO umbrella. He said the 20 hospitals that have joined the network have a total net revenue of $14.3 billion and serves a population of about six million people.

Hellebusch said the effort still is in the early stages and more will be known after the CEO summit. “Right now, I’d say we’re in Phase 1,” he said.

In other matters, the hospital administrator reported that October was another successful month.

“October was in like a lion and out like a lamb a little bit,” he said, explaining that patient volumes slid some by the end of the month. However, he added, business in the Emergency Room “stayed strong” during the entire month.

Regarding personnel, the hospital has been forced to continue relying on outside agency staffers despite a concerted effort to move away from the more-expensive agency workers. Indeed, Kali Van Booven, director of nursing, reported that two agency nurses are bolstering the nursing staff.

“We decided to hire up so we don’t have to turn down” patients, she said.

At last month’s board session, Hellebusch explained that during the previous month the hospital had to turn away some patients because there was not adequate staff on the floors to adequately accommodate more patients.

Of the 212 workers at HADH, four are contracted employees, according to Human Resources Director Matt Siebert — two on the nursing staff, one in the laboratory and one physical therapist. There have been 66 new hirings this year, he said, and there are 20 open positions throughout the hospital’s departments. An increased effort is being made to recruit more employees and interviews are taking place, he said.

Siebert noted that the hospital has recently hired another registered nurse.

“It’s looking up,” he said, regarding the recruiting effort.

Hellebusch also told the board that talks are taking place with the landlord of the hospital’s Montgomery County clinic about needed improvements. He also said the building will be appraised in the event district officials want to consider a purchase of the property. At the same time, research is being done regarding available properties in Montgomery County should the district decide to purchase a structure for a clinic.