“This special sports health facility is unique in Hungary and even in Central Europe due to its complex nature, as it does not only cater for sport science related needs but also offers specific training programs and provides individually tailored services. What is truly remarkable about it is that it has been implemented in a stadium through the cooperation of the university and the municipality within the framework supplied by a cluster infrastructure,” said Rector Zoltán Szilvássy at the inauguration ceremony of the SET Center on Monday.
The new center, which offers services in the fields of diagnostics, lifestyle, and therapy, is available for both professional and amateur athletes as well as for patients receiving musculoskeletal rehabilitation treatments or, in fact, any member of the general public, including even employers. Furthermore, it serves as a venue for researchers in applied sciences and for students taking related practical courses at the University of Debrecen. It is located in the building of Nagyerdei Stadion, covering an area of 1200 square meters. Thus, besides catering for the traditional function of housing sports events, this stadium also operates as a space for cultural and entertainment activities (containing the venues of HALL, LOKI shop, and a bar and a café) as well as a home of health care/preservation and pertinent education.
“The opening of this center is proof positive that a stadium can indeed be a complex of several different functions. In addition, it also fills an imaginary gap in offering treatments not necessarily only for ill patients but virtually for any ordinary person wishing to preserve their health. Moreover, it is a great example of how competitive sports need backup and support coming from science,” said MP Lajos Kósa.
The investment project, including the construction and the installation of equipment and appliances, took 18 months to be completed, and it was financed partly from EMMI struktúraváltási alap [Ministry of Human Capacities Fund for Structural Transfers] and partly by using the university’s own resources in the total amount of HUF 400 million.
The basic objectives in sports are community building and the increasing of health awareness, both of which are very important for us at the University of Debrecen. As sports activities are extremely popular in Debrecen both for competitors and spectators, the management of the university had, more than ten years ago, decided to offer its sports related research findings as well as its infrastructure in order to serve the sports efforts of our city and the broader region around it,” said Chancellor Zoltán Bács.
Currently, the center provides the team of its professionals, comprising physicians and sports science experts, with state-of-the-art equipment and appliances. SET Center can conduct physical and medical examinations in the fields of exercise physiology, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, ultrasound bone healing, laboratory research, sports psychology, anthropometry, sports genetics, and even manager screenings. Special packages are also on offer for athletes participating in recreational programs or for the general public involved in posture correction, physical skills development, and anti-obesity programs.
The Center can also provide a variety of treatments in physical therapy, including shockwave, ultrasound, laser, iontophoresis, lymphatic drainage massage, magnetic therapy, game-ready and spine liner. Cryosanua sessions are recommended for the fast and effective regeneration of athletes in competitive sports but it is also used for improving and maintaining skin elasticity and tension. Among physical therapy packages, the most popular ones are Maitland manual therapy, kinesio tape technique, McKenzie exercise, functional fitness training (TRX), sports rehabilitation, and individual and team physical practices. You can also access here services by specialists in rheumatology, orthopedics, cardiology, pediatrics, internal medicine, and dermatology. According to the Mayor of Debrecen, the inauguration of the center is a virtual milestone in the development of our city.
“This facility complies perfectly well with the development strategy we have set out for Debrecen to follow, as it centers on and around the activities pursued at the University of Debrecen. We intend to make sure that, by using the latest achievements in innovation, our city should maintain its leading position in the fields of economy, culture, and education of the immediate region. For this effort, the newly opened center represents high added value, especially in the areas of sports and health care,” said László Papp.
The center will be soon complemented with a fitness area of 2600 square meters to be completed by the spring of 2017, whose services will be available for the general public and the students and staff of the university. You can read more about Sportdiagnosztikai, Életmód és Terápiás (SET) Központ at the webpage www.setcenter.hu.
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