A row over a plan to move patients from a geriatric unit in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, looks set to continue despite a compromise proposal by the South Eastern Health Board.
St Anthony's was opened as a unit for the elderly a year ago. However, the board now proposes to house acute patients there for the next 18 months to alleviate the beds crisis at St Joseph's Hospital.
It suggested moving the 27 elderly patients, including 14 long-stay residents, into nursing homes. In the face of intense opposition, however, it has now offered to leave the long-stay residents in St Anthony's and use the remaining beds for acute patients.
The hospital is about a mile from St Anthony's.
An action group set up to fight the move says it has not yet made a decision on the board's new proposal.
The group's chairwoman, Ms Anne Taylor, said the offer was greeted with "a sigh of relief" but there was "genuine practical concern" at the prospect of having services for acute and elderly patients in the same unit.
"There are some very strong feelings about this and we will be getting professional advice on it. To have acute beds in an area and all that goes with that, such as emergencies in the middle of the night, does not sit well with long-stay beds," she said.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said he wished to explore other options, therefore a decision did not have to be made on the board's offer at this point, she said.
A spokeswoman for the Minister, however, said he was satisfied with the board's offer as a short-term solution but wanted alternatives examined in the long term.
Mr Martin met a delegation on the issue, led by the Mayor of Clonmel, Mr Sean Nyhan, last Thursday.