With the closure of the children's ward at Tullamore Hospital in Co Offaly at the weekend, more than half the beds in the three acute hospitals in the Midlands Health Board region are now vacant.
The 16-bed children's ward was closed as there were no children to be treated in the hospital. A board spokeswoman said any children admitted in an emergency would be placed in the adult wards relevant to their medical needs.
She said the hospital's ENT (ear nose and throat) unit had also been closed down, leaving 18 beds empty.
More than half the acute beds in the region are now vacant. The spokeswoman said there were 94 acute beds vacant in the Longford/Westmeath hospital, 11 of which are normally held for day patients who are admitted for minor operations and released on the same day. "However, we are very fortunate so far this weekend as there have been no major emergencies and people seem to be heeding our advice and are not coming in any great numbers to the accident and emergency services at the hospitals," she said.
A number of patients were taken to Portlaoise Hospital this weekend following a road traffic accident, but none was seriously injured.
"We have had a small number of emergencies but they have been coped with, and there has been good co-operation between the strike committees and the hospital management" she said.