The Southern Health Trust reports that Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry has stabilized its inpatient services for the summer.
Three senior medical consultants from Craigavon Area Hospital are providing assistance with the short-term strategy.
Additionally, a temporary MRI scanner and the hiring of a chief operating officer for Daisy Hill have been made possible.
The hospital will keep operating its emergency room around-the-clock, according to the trust.
At the Southern Health Trust's board meeting on Thursday, chief executive Dr. Maria O'Kane stated that the organization's goal was to find a "sustainable way forward for the hospital, its patients, and its staff.".
When appropriate, she said, the organization wanted to increase "alternatives to inpatient medical admissions" and "improve patient flow and discharge.".
The trust stated that it would collaborate with the Department of Health to "secure the longer-term sustainability of the hospital" in a statement.
No jobs would be lost, and the emergency department would be improved with a few extra beds, it was promised during the board meeting.
The hospital can now accommodate 83 patients, down from its previous capacity of 104.
However, given that 142 beds are already occupied at the hospital, some meeting attendees wondered how 83 beds would suffice.
The creation of an emergency department short-stay unit was one of several service changes Daisy Hill Hospital's staff received notice of earlier this month.
The Daisy Hill Hospital Future Group, a group fighting to keep hospital services, disagreed with the Southern Health Trust, which claimed that the plans would prevent needless patient deaths.
After the hospital's stroke service was discontinued on May 31, an announcement was made.
In addition to keeping a 24-hour emergency room open and offering patients alternatives to hospital admission close to home, the trust promised to support the psychological safety of its employees.
Earlier in May, it was stated that a number of Daisy Hill's medical staff members had "ended their tenure.".
Finding and keeping enough medical staff has been a major problem for the hospital, according to a trust spokesperson.
The health trust provided an update on Thursday following ambiguity regarding the hospital's stroke service's future.
It advised patients with possible stroke symptoms to dial 999.
Patients being transported to the hospital by ambulance with suspected acute strokes are being directed to a different emergency department due to a lack of stroke consultants at Daisy Hill. .
According to the trust, there are 24/7 plans in place for patients who visit Daisy Hill's emergency room and are diagnosed as having a stroke.
When necessary, they will get the right care, which may include on-site thrombolysis, a medication used to dissolve clots.
For immediate stroke care, patients will then be transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast or the Craigavon Area Hospital.
Those who need more treatment will go back to Daisy Hill's stroke rehabilitation ward.
While Dr. O'Kane said the trust was now more "optimistic about stabilizing services for the short term," rising service demand, financial and workforce pressures, and the need for modernization "remain very real challenges across health and social care.".
The hospital, she said, would continue to be an "essential component of the regional acute network" as long as the trust and board worked toward a "longer-term vision for the hospital."
