Plans for a new community hospital in Skye have been endorsed by the NHS Highland board.
Under the new proposals a small hospital and resource centre would be built in Broadford, with a smaller ‘spoke’ facility in Portree.
It would be part of a wider redesign of services in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross.
The health board heard that a three month public consultation on the redesign proposals showed that 2,273 people completed a survey as part of the consultation, with 2:1 in favour of Broadford as the location for a new ‘hub’ facility.
Fifty-seven per cent were in favour of the hub being in Broadford and the spoke in Portree, whereas 29 per cent supported Portree as the location for the hub.
However, campaigners from Portree have claimed that many in the north of Skye had been unaware of the proposals.
The plan will now be sent to the Scottish Government for final approval.
Garry Coutts, chairman of NHS Highland, described the decision as “historic” and said detailed planning for the new facilities would now get under way.
He said: “We have reached a crucial stage in the redesign of services in the area.
He added: “Understandably, there has been some controversy around this issue.
“People have approached it from various perspectives, and our job has been to try to arrive at a consensus view on how best to reshape our services.
“We have done so with the interests of the entire community at heart and would ask everyone in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross to pull together behind this decision.”
The plans have been welcomed by Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
He said: “This is great news for Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross as a state of the art brand new hospital is badly needed to replace the existing ageing facilities.
“It is particularly important at a time when public money has been cut by the Westminster government that the Scottish government has committed to funding the new hospital.”
“I hope that everyone will now get behind this fantastic project and help move it forward as quickly as possible.”