Health conference in the Basque Country: an Institute of Sport and Aging to meet the challenges of tomorrow

Led by a group of doctors from the Belharra clinic, completely independent, this new establishment aims to meet the growing needs linked to the advancing age of the population and the orthopedic challenges of the region.

Located 300 meters from the Belharra Clinic, at the intersection of Chemin de Jupiter and Rue de Hiriarte, the Institute of Sport and Aging will be built on land currently classified as unbuildable. The first step in this ambitious project was therefore the modification of the local urban planning plan (PLU) to allow its development.

This concludes the public inquiry, open from March 24 to April 24, which must decide on this change before opening the door to the start of construction before the end of the year. Ultimately, this ambitious project will bring together a building that will specifically house a center dedicated to musculoskeletal pathologies, strengthening outpatient surgery and optimizing the care pathway before and after hospitalization. It will also have to adapt the tools and expertise of high-level sport to seniors.

At the same time, temporary non-medical accommodation solutions for patients and their companions will be proposed in response to a need identified by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency (ARS). The project also includes an expansion of parking capacity: a major challenge as congestion has become a recurring problem at the Belharra site.

On the professional side, we should find part of the orthopedic surgery and sports medicine department of Belharra there, but also paramedics (physiotherapists, nurses, etc.), physical trainers, and also rheumatologists, orthopedists and cardiologists, i.e. 80 health professionals.

“Having a real staff and making the skills and equipment of high-level sport available to the general public”

"The idea is truly to have a real staff and to make the skills and equipment of high-level sport available to the general public to be effective in health sports," says Dr. Benjamin Laffourcade, a stakeholder in this project. Opening planned for 2027.