Councillors have vowed to consider supporting an idea to build a hospital in the centre of Kirklees at Cooper Bridge.
The borough has shed many hospital services over the past decade to Calderdale and Wakefield.
More are now under threat with the controversial plan to downgrade Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and focus emergency care in Halifax.
Many of Dewsbury hospital services are being transferred to Pinderfields and its A&E is scheduled to downgraded to a daytime only service.
At a meeting of all councillors, NHS campaigner John Garside, urged members to throw their weight behind his idea to build an 800-900 bed hospital at Cooper Bridge.
Mr Garside says a new facility there would be far cheaper than redeveloping HRI, Calderdale Royal and Dewsbury District Hospital .
Land is available for development off the A62 behind the Miller and Carter steak house , although it is earmarked for industrial use.
Mr Garside said he wanted to “stimulate every council member’s thinking” on his idea for a hospital for Kirklees.
He said: “This area as a whole has over 500,000 population covering about 200 square miles.
“In six to ten years this area will not have a specialist medical centre or a general hospital.”
Mr Garside said people needed to get “up to speed” with NHS modernisation programmes.
“Local general hospitals are old hat,” he said.
“That is why anyone with a heart problem is sent to Leeds. Head injuries go to Pinderfields.
“That is why we’re going to lose out big time.
“The three CCGs (clinical commissioning groups) in this area have been cherry picking our specialist health professionals and transferring them to Halifax and Wakefield hospitals over the last eight or nine years.
“There’s only one option to beat the two hospital trust plan of Kirklees, that is to draw up a business plan for a new specialist hospital at Cooper Bridge for 800-900 beds.
“The Department for Health would then have two plans to consider.
“It’s far more cost effective to do one hospital at Cooper Bridge as you would only have to close HRI and Dewsbury and have one bigger centre – which is what NHS England wants.”
Clr Viv Kendrick, Cabinet Member for Health, responded: “I think they are interesting ideas and quite radical.”
Clr Kendrick said a cross party working group would look at CHFT’s business plan and consider other options, including Mr Garside’s as part of the process.
Mirfield councillor Martyn Bolt said it was “something worth looking at.”
He said the Conservatives had been calling for a unified health trust for Kirklees for some time.
He added: “I’m sure residents would rather see services put in a central location.”
