The Daily Telegraph yesterday published a list of more than 100 hospitals it claimed were at risk under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s pay-for-service model, a claim Mr Rudd said was untrue.

Because those hospitals have fewer procedures, they could see a drop in funds coming to them.

Included in the list were hospitals in Wellington, Narromine, Cobar, Mudgee, Parkes and Coonamble.

Health minister Nicola Roxon also quashed the claims, yesterday telling the ABC “nothing in the plan” threatened smaller hospitals.

She said a “national pricing agency” would determine the cost of procedures such as hip surgery in areas such as “Dubbo or Grafton” as compared to Sydney.

Despite that, confusion in NSW’s outlying regional centres is growing.

For mining-town Cobar mayor Lilliane Brady, it was “the most ridiculous thing that Rudd had ever done”.

“If he thinks for one minute the people of Cobar will stand for him taking away our hospital, forget about it,” she said.

Cobar’s mines are expected to double to six from three during the next few years, Cr Brady said, meaning Cobar’s hospital needed to be “upgraded”, not threatened.

Parkes mayor Ken Keith didn’t believe smaller regional hospitals were at risk of closing.

“Rudd’s said he’s not going to let that happen,” he said.

“I think we need to let the dust settle and let the states and feds have their negotiations.”

Cr Keith said the proposed reforms could actually “open up funding” for Parkes’ and Forbes’ long-promised new hospitals.

Coonamble mayor Tim Horan wondered if the “vote factor” had come into it.

“It could be more about the population, the numbers aren’t huge here,” he said.

“Coonamble would not allow for it - we’ve fought to get a new hospital, the last thing we want is any downgrade for our services.”

The Prime Minister was adamant “nothing” in the planned Australian Health and Hospital Network “would justify the closure of a single hospital or a single hospital bed”.