The North Eastern Health Board "is in a very serious financial position", according to its chief executive officer.
Mr Paul Robinson has confirmed it is nearly €11 million over-budget. As a result, 83 new positions will not be filled this year in light of the financial situation.
They were all earmarked as additional positions and while they will not affect existing services, it will "slow down progress on some service plans," he said.
At the end of June, the board was €9.2 million over-budget but the situation continued to deteriorate during July and at the end of that month the figure was €10.94 million.
The amount it has overspent represents just over 4 per cent of its budget for the year.
One of the additional areas of expense has been in births; the recent census showed the population in the north-east had grown by 12.7 per cent or 38,771 people.
"This impacts on services at every level and in particular there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of children born since the last census and there was a 10 per cent increase in the number of births from 2000 to 2001," Mr Robinson added.
Demographic changes have also seen more people in the 65 years and over age group, which has placed increased demand on GP and public health services, as well as acute hospitals, nursing homes and home-help services.
The change in population has had major financial implications for the board and it is preparing a submission to the Department of Health and Children for next year's allocation, but at the moment the financial overrun is not posing a threat to current health board staff.
Mr Robinson said the health needs of the 2,500 asylum-seekers in the region has also added to the running costs of the acute hospitals. "In general, asylum-seekers have special health and social service needs and present the board with challenges that have not been experienced before in the past," he said.
Additional costs are in maternity and paediatric services, where, "in many cases individual costs are substantially higher than for the indigenous population."