The coalition, a network of over 400 grassroots community organizations across the province, has produced a new analysis of recommendations made by expert advisor Dr. Jack Kitts on the NHS plan, and on the revised NHS plan based on those recommendations.

The coalition was hoping to present the analysis to regional council Thursday night.

The plan calls for changes such as replacing the emergency wards at the Port Colborne hospital and Douglas Memorial hospital in Fort Erie with urgent care centres, and transferring maternal services currently at the Welland County hospital and Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls to the planned new hospital in west St. Catharines.

Coalition director Natalie Mehra said in an interview Wednesday that the plan provides no vision for the future of the two smaller south-end hospitals, and that it could have implications for other smaller, rural hospitals across Ontario.

"Fears of the eventual closure of the hospitals are well-founded," she said.

The coalition analysis also points to the fact there will be as-yet unknown costs downloaded to Niagara's regional government to beef up paramedic services, so patients from south Niagara can be transported to emergency departments further away, and said a joint Ministry of Health and Ontario Hospital Association committee found research does not support the centralization of maternity services other than high-risks maternity services.

The NHS plan and Kitts' recommendations also fail to address a chronic shortage of medical staff, and there are serious questions about when the new hospital -- which Mehra said is already six months behind schedule -- will be built and what it will cost, she said.

"It (plan) needs to be reviewed seriously," Mehra said.