The issue of patients who smoke near Dunedin Hospital entrances in sub-zero temperatures was taking too long to address, Peter Barron said.
They were not going to suddenly give up smoking because they were in hospital, he said.
They were addicts and should not be "forced out on to the street".
It would not be considered acceptable for other patients who were ill to go outside in their dressing gowns in such conditions.
Board member Helen Algar said she felt it was possible to be too politically correct and people needed to take responsibility for their personal health.
People needed to understand their health status was affected to some degree by their own behaviour.
When her mother, who smoked, came to hospital, she did not smoke in hospital and did not smoke for long periods after leaving.
Mr Barron did not agree.
"These are real people with real addictions and it is not acceptable. It is not being PC."
Board chairman Errol Millar said recent research showed that a traumatic time such as being admitted to hospital was a good time to change habits.
He suggested an external barbecue heater at the southern entrance to the hospital might be a temporary solution.
