The North Eastern Health Board is to create 650 jobs this year following the adoption of a £290 million service plan.
The board employs 5,000 and extra posts will be created in all its service areas in Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan.
The plan prioritises health promotion as a means of reducing the main causes of death in the region - heart diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, injuries and poisonings.
Two-thirds of deaths in the region are caused by cardiovascular diseases or cancers, and significant focus will be placed on personal responsibility for prevention of illness, according to health board CEO Mr Paul Robinson.
The plan also aims to make acute hospitals more efficient through increased use of direct-access surgery, better bed management and improved admission and discharge arrangements.
The acute hospitals in Drogheda, Navan, Cavan and Monaghan have already lost £531,000 in funding under Department of Health adjustments which penalise hospitals which fail to reach a standard level of cost effectiveness.