New Leaf Clinic

Patient Care

The New Leaf Center is intended to be a medical home for special children: a place where families can feel comfortable bringing their children not only for diagnostic evaluation but also for their ongoing primary care. New Leaf Center networks with area specialists to coordinate effective, centralized care plans for special children. We believe that a trusting relationship between the family and caregiver is a vital component of quality healthcare. We want to give time and attention to understanding the needs and expectations of each patient. Parenting a special child with a genetic condition is difficult work. Our goal is to partner with families in this work by providing clear information, quality care and compassion.

Lab Services

New Leaf Center does not have a genetic testing laboratory, greatly reducing the cost of our existence. The following serve as our reference labs:

Clinic for Special Children (Strasburg, PA)
DDC Clinic (Middlefield, OH)
Perkin Elmer Genetics (Bridgeville, PA)
Akron Children’s Hospital (Akron, OH)

Other basic lab work (blood counts, kidney or liver function tests) are sent to Aultman Lab Services in Canton, OH.

Home Visits

Our model of care and the way we are funded allows us the unique opportunity to provide occasional visits to patient homes. Priority is given to established patients who are at the end-of-life or who are difficult to transport.

Fees

First time visit	1-2 hours	$110
Follow up visit	30-60 min	$75

We do not want cost to be a barrier to visiting us. Parents who feel they cannot afford our services should discuss this with the office manager.

Research

Medical research can provide useful answers for difficult questions about the best way to care for special children. New Leaf Center (NLC) physicians collaborate with rare disease experts from clinics with similar missions to increase awareness and study of our community’s needs.

Research also bridges gaps between advanced genetic testing and our population’s needs. In 2017, the Windows of Hope Project (www.WOHproject.com) led by Drs Andrew Crosby and Emma Baple merged services with NLC to provide research services embedded within the clinical setting. Families coming to NLC may be asked to participate in research studies, but only after careful consideration by NLC staff and advisors. We pledge to participate only in research that directly benefits the families we serve. The cost is kept as low as possible and is discussed prior to research testing.

Partners

New Leaf Center is a member of the Plain Community Health Consortium (PCHC).The PCHC empowers member organizations to improve the health of underserved communities through collaborative programs, research, education and resource utilization.

Member Organizations

Affiliate Member Organizations

Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) – Okemos, MI
UPMC Children’s Hospital – Pittsburgh, PA

Other hospitals and researchers are also invaluable partners in establishing mutual trust between healthcare providers and plain families.

Resources and Publications

Listing publications:

Recessive GM3 synthase deficiency: Natural history, biochemistry, and therapeutic frontier.
Bowser LE, Young M, Wenger OK, Ammous Z, Brigatti KW, Carson VJ, Moser T, Deline J, Aoki K, Morlet T, Scott EM, Puffenberger EG, Robinson DL, Hendrickson C, Salvin J, Gottlieb S, Heaps AD, Tiemeyer M, Strauss KA.
Mol Genet Metab. 2019 Apr;126(4):475-488. doi:10.1016/j.ymgme.2019.01.013. Epub 2019 Jan 21.
PMID: 30691927

Homozygosity for a mutation affecting the catalytic domain of tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (YARS) causes multisystem disease.
Williams KB, Brigatti KW, Puffenberger EG, Gonzaga-Jauregui C, Griffin LB, Martinez ED, Wenger OK, Yoder MA, Kandula VVR, Fox MD, Demczko MM, Poskitt L, Furuya KN, Reid JG, Overton JD, Baras A, Miles L, Radhakrishnan K, Carson VJ, Antonellis A, Jinks RN, Strauss KA.
Hum Mol Genet. 2019 Feb 15;28(4):525-538. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddy344.
PMID: 30304524 Free PMC article.

Abnormal Newborn Screening Follow-up for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency in an Amish Cohort with Cartilage-Hair Hypoplasia.
Scott EM, Chandra S, Li J, Robinette ED, Brown MF, Wenger OK.
J Clin Immunol. 2020 Feb;40(2):321-328. doi: 10.1007/s10875-019-00739-9. Epub 2020 Jan 6.
PMID: 31903518

Underimmunization in Ohio’s Amish: parental fears are a greater obstacle than access to care.
Wenger OK, McManus MD, Bower JR, Langkamp DL.
Pediatrics. 2011 Jul;128(1):79-85. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-2599. Epub 2011 Jun 27.
PMID: 21708796

Clinical exome sequencing reveals locus heterogeneity and phenotypic variability of cohesinopathies.
Yuan B, Neira J, Pehlivan D, Santiago-Sim T, Song X, Rosenfeld J, Posey JE, Patel V, Jin W, Adam MP, Baple EL, Dean J, Fong CT, Hickey SE, Hudgins L, Leon E, Madan-Khetarpal S, Rawlins L, Rustad CF, Stray-Pedersen A, Tveten K, Wenger O, Diaz J, Jenkins L, Martin L, McGuire M, Pietryga M, Ramsdell L, Slattery L; DDD Study, Abid F, Bertuch AA, Grange D, Immken L, Schaaf CP, Van Esch H, Bi W, Cheung SW, Breman AM, Smith JL, Shaw C, Crosby AH, Eng C, Yang Y, Lupski JR, Xiao R, Liu P.
Genet Med. 2019 Mar;21(3):663-675. doi: 10.1038/s41436-018-0085-6. Epub 2018 Aug 30.
PMID: 30158690 Free PMC article.

Evaluation of low immunization coverage among the Amish population in rural Ohio.
Kettunen C, Nemecek J, Wenger O.
Am J Infect Control. 2017 Jun 1;45(6):630-634. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2017.01.032. Epub 2017 Mar 18.
PMID: 28302434

Delineating the expanding phenotype associated with SCAPER gene mutation.
Fasham J, Arno G, Lin S, Xu M, Carss KJ, Hull S, Lane A, Robson AG, Wenger O, Self JE, Harlalka GV, Salter CG, Schema L, Moss TJ, Cheetham ME, Moore AT, Raymond FL, Chen R, Baple EL, Webster AR, Crosby AH; NIHR Bioresource Rare Diseases Consortium.
Am J Med Genet A. 2019 Aug;179(8):1665-1671. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.61202. Epub 2019 Jun 13.
PMID: 31192531 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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