Wakatipu Health Trust founder Maria Cole says those attending last night's meeting in Queenstown to hear about the SDHB's draft southern strategic health services plan would have left disappointed or confused.
''There are no specifics in the strategy and it's almost impossible for lay people to provide feedback on that basis.''
In 2011, a National Health Board panel made 21 recommendations for health services in the fast-growing Wakatipu, and many had not been implemented, Mrs Cole said.
''What confidence can the community have going forward that recommendations are going to be implemented for the benefit of our community again?''
More than 90 people turned up to the Queenstown Memorial Centre for the latest in a series of meetings throughout the region to discuss the draft strategy, which was released last month.
In September, in the latest round of a decade-long debate on health services in the Wakatipu, the SDHB announced it could not afford the upgrade of Lakes District Hospital it proposed in 2010.
Yesterday, questions from the floor helped flesh out the SDHB's stance on rumours it favoured transferring the running of the hospital to a community trust.
Chief executive Carole Heatly said the idea was being explored by the National Health Board, and whether it proceeded was a ''decision that the people of Queenstown will make''.
Mrs Cole said until a decision was made on who ran the hospital, the SDHB was ''putting the cart before the horse'' by consulting the community on its strategy.
''Until such time as you've got an agreed structure for how those services will be delivered, I don't see how people in the community can be expected to provide meaningful feedback.''
For example, a mention in the strategy of establishing an acute services hub in the Dunstan-Queenstown area was not raised in the meeting, she said.
Property developer Alistair Porter, who plans to build a healthcare complex for private medical providers in Frankton within two years, said people had come to the meeting ''to find out what was going to happen in Queenstown'' but had not got any answers.
Ms Heatly told the meeting the SDHB wanted to consult the region's communities before forming a specific plan.
''It can't be precise because until we know where we're going, we don't know what the actions are.''
Two meetings about the strategy will be held in Dunedin, tomorrow and on Monday. A final meeting will be held in Alexandra next Wednesday. The district health board is expected to approve the strategy in February.
