Mr Anton was perplexed by the new plan and just what authority it carries.
It is part of the approval process for the $300million Dunedin Hospital rebuild.
Mr Anton said it seemed to come out of "left field''.
"I have no idea what this means to our strategy yet.''
Written by consultants Sapere Research Group, it contained too much anecdote and speculation, he said.
The plan talks about the desirability of combining GP practices with rural hospitals, and suggests rural hospital are financially incentivised to carry more beds than they needed.
Clutha Health First incorporates a GP practice, but Oamaru Hospital and Dunstan Hospital do not.
"There is a tendency for the rural hospitals to want to step up to higher levels of care such as high dependency units, which generally have very high nursing ratios; EDs, with a high level of patient risk and a need for a well-trained and stable workforce; and high-end scanning, requiring a skilled, scarce workforce,'' the plan says.
Mr Anton said: "We use specialist doctors who are admitting patients who need short-term acute medical attention.
"I think it's inflammatory and unnecessary.''
The plan comes just 18 months after the release of a strategic plan that also talked of changes for rural hospitals, but it was effectively dumped by the group that has been put in charge of the Dunedin Hospital rebuild, the Southern Partnership Group.
There is uncertainty about just what role rural hospitals are supposed to play, which affects the kind of facility required in Dunedin.
Dunstan Hospital general manager Karyn Penno said she was happy the plan recognised the population growth in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes.
She did not think hospitals needed to be combined with GP practices, as long as they worked closely with them, as Dunstan did.
The plan talks about the need to consider a new health facility in the area.
"The best place for this facility has always been felt to be in Cromwell, as it is more central.
"However, possibly locally-based medical centres of appropriate complexity supported by world-class retrieval throughout the region are a better option,'' it says.
Ms Penno was not keen on the idea of building a new hospital, and believes it is crucial to focus on community-based care.
Health organisations needed to work together, with the patient at the centre, she believed.
She was frustrated by the use of territorial authority boundaries for population figures, as it gave a misleading impression.
Queenstown Lakes included Wanaka and Hawea, but they were part of Dunstan Hospital's catchment.
"It is Dunstan's catchment that is growing out of control.''
Waitaki District Health Services chairman George Berry was pleased with the "general direction'' of the report.
"I just hope the necessary changes for implementation and funding can now emerge from Dunedin, more devolution of appropriate services to our excellent rural hospitals, rather than retaining and drawing them back to the more expensive base hospitals,'' Mr Berry said.
Southern Partnership Group chairman Andrew Blair said the plan was supposed to spark debate, and he was pleased it had done that.
Asked about errors, such as a reference to Wakai [sic] hospital, and Invercargill Hospital, Mr Blair said they were relatively minor.
The hospitals' names are Wakari Hospital, and Southland Hospital.
"Let's not lose the big picture here that this is about gathering up the information we need to make the right decisions around Dunedin Hospital . . . [but] it is disappointing.
"It's really important that people who have got views or believe there are factual errors bring them to our attention.''
The report was in its final form, but feedback would be used to "populate our thoughts'' for follow-up documents.
Mr Blair said the consultants sought wide feedback from the sector before writing the plan.
"It would have been easy for the DHB or the Ministry of Health to just plough on and make decisions. What the partnership group is going through is a very considered and structured process to engage widely.''
The report is silent on the specific question of the future of Lakes District Hospital.
It is different from the other rural hospitals as it is directly managed by the Southern District Health Board, but it might be put into a locally-run trust.
The Ministry of Health has been sitting on a separate report on its future - which was also produced by the Sapere Research Group - for about a year.
The ministry's refusal to release the report is the subject of an Office of the Ombudsman complaint from the Otago Daily Times.
Projected population increases
Queenstown Lakes - expected to grow to the size of Invercargill city.
Clutha and Gore - expected to decline.
Southland, Invercargill, Waitaki, Dunedin - very low growth expected.
Central Otago - moderate growth (but less than national average).
Source: Strategic service report, Sapare Research Group
