That's the assessment made by Dr John Birss at a meeting held at the South Coast District Hospital in Victor Harbor on Tuesday night.

Speaking about the plans to rebadge 43 country hospitals as GP Plus Emergency Hospitals and specifically the Strathalbyn Hospital, rural locum Dr Birss was forthright in his views on what will happen.

"They will change the hospital into a craphole where no one will want to work," he said.

"This whole thing will implode these hospitals."

"This is all designed to cut by proxy."

Speaking to The Times after the meeting Dr Birss, who is the immediate past president of the Rural Doctors Association, said the plan was "standard management practice".

"They're going to create the circumstances so that someone else can shut down the whole thing."

Dr Birss was extremely vocal at the meeting, asking the regional health manager, Genevieve Hebart, what planet she was on when she said no hospitals would be closed under the plan.

In a statement made earlier in the day the Minister for Health John Hill said "under this plan every hospital will stay open and maintain emergency services."

However he conceded that the capacity of Strathalbyn Hospital to offer surgical services in the future "may change" over the ten years of the plan.

The hospital was one of 13 that Mr Hill said was "currently undertaking birthing and/or surgery that may change over the 10 years, subject to workforce and safety and quality compliance".

The hospital currently offers level one surgery in areas such as orthopedics, gynecology, ear throat and nose surgery, urology, dental and general surgeries.