The North Eastern Health Board is seeking an immediate meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to discuss the future of maternity units under threat of closure at the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and Monaghan General Hospital.
The decision to seek the meeting was made at the special meeting of the board in Kells yesterday.
The meeting had been convened to consider a recommendation from the chief executive, Mr Paul Robinson, to suspend obstetric services at both hospitals.
The crisis follows an examination of maternity services in the region by the Condon Review Group, which recommended that maternity services should cease at Monaghan and that the maternity unit in Dundalk be replaced by a midwifery-led unit as neither site has the 1,000 births per annum that the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists stipulates are needed to warrant a consultant-led unit.
The two sites are the only single consultant units in the British Isles and, in the wake of the Condon report, the two consultants feel they are unable to provide a safe level of service. This view is shared by the medical adviser to the health board, Mr Finbar Lennon.
The board was informed subsequently by its insurers, Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances Ltd, that in the light of these safety concerns it would withdraw cover from both units unless "appropriate interim measures are implemented" before the end of February.
Health board members have been told that without indemnity cover the only option is the temporary suspension of obstetric services in Dundalk and Monaghan.
This has led to protests in both towns, and demonstrators picketed yesterday's meeting to demand the retention of the services.
The meeting was warned that board members could be leaving themselves liable to a civil claim if they ignored the advice of the executives and anything untoward were to occur in the provision of obstetric services at either unit.
A proposal from Louth Councillor Mr Declan Breathnach (FF) to seek an immediate meeting with the Minister for Health on the future of the units, and to defer a decision on whether to suspend the services until a further meeting of the board on February 6th, was accepted by a 21-5 majority.
Following the vote, Co Meath GP Dr Peter Wahlrab, who has urged the closure of the units, resigned from the board in protest, claiming that if the Minister were to allocate extra funds to keep the units open it would be an incorrect use of resources.
Dr Wahlrab said he had taken his decision because of the legal implications of the vote also.