As renovations for Sitrin Health Care's new Neurodegenerative Specialty Program began, a balloon launch was held at the facility on Monday.

Each year on August 24th, Marie Clay and her daughter Laurie launch balloons on the birthdate of husband and father Phil Clay of Rome, who died of Huntington's Disease in 2006 at the age of 57.  Marie says her daughter was diagnosed with Huntington's at the age of 27 and is in the mid-stages of the degenerative disease.

Huntington's is an inherited, progressively degenerative brain disorder that results in the loss of both mental faculties and physical control.

She says Sitrin's expansion is a sign of hope for the countless families affected by HD.

The program at Sitrin will be the only one of its kind in upstate New York to provide long-term care for people with ALS and Huntington's Disease and is expected to open in early 2016.

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