The organization that oversees and operates Brantford’s hospital is plagued by deteriorating morale, leadership issues and poor financial performance, a government-ordered investigation has found.

The Brant County Healthcare System runs both Brantford General Hospital and the Willett urgent care centre in Paris.

Dr. Tim Rutledge, the president and CEO of North York General Hospital in Toronto, was appointed in February to lead a team investigating the BCHS operation.

Their 66-page report was made public this week.

“The Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS) has been struggling in recent years with performance issues, significant financial difficulties, and declining staff and physician morale,” reads its first sentence.

The report issues dozens of recommendations, including the appointment of a provincial supervisor to review the organization’s board of directors, senior leadership team and organizational structure.

The investigators traced the issues back to 2010, when the BCHS’s longtime CEO stepped down and was replaced with someone looking to institute major organizational changes.

“Unfortunately, the execution of these large-scale changes has not been well led,” the report reads.

As a result, investigators found, “skilled and experienced” doctors and staff members have left the BCHS, while morale has plummeted among people who remained with the organization.

A pair of staff surveys, conducted in 2013 and 2016, paint a telling picture of declining morale.

In 2013, 83 per cent of physicians responded that they would recommend BCHS as a workplace to other physicians. By 2016, that number had fallen to 59 per cent.

When asked about the BCHS executive team, the percentage of physicians expressing satisfaction fell from 57 per cent to 30 per cent.

Asked to describe the workplace culture at BCHS, responses included words and phrases like “culture of fear,” “lack of trust and transparency,” and “toxic”. Physicians also suggested that anyone who expressed concerns would be “bullied and intimidated.”

On the financial front, the investigators found that the BCHS failed to balance its budget for four straight years, starting with 2013-14.

In that time, the organization blew through its $18-million cash reserve and accumulated more than $4 million in debt.

The investigators found that financial decisions were made “almost exclusively” on the basis of consultant reports, with little internal analysis taking place.

“The investigation team has concluded that in recent years there has been an unacceptable failure in both governance and executive leadership at BCHS,” the report reads.

In a statement, Health Minister Eric Hoskins said the appointment of a supervisor “is in the best interest of the local community, and will help strengthen the hospital’s programs and services.”

The BCHS also released a statement, saying it would work with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN to support the supervisor.

“While leadership at BCHS is reviewing and analyzing the investigator’s report, the hospital will continue to provide all services and continue to serve the needs of our community,” the statement said.

The report was based on in-person feedback from 135 people associated with BCHS, as well as hundreds of responses to a community survey.