About DDC Clinic

Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for people with special needs caused by rare genetic disorders. Giving special children the chance to live healthier lives and finding answers for their families is at the heart of what we do.

We’re a non-profit primary care, education and research facility. But we’re also a gathering place; a place of love, compassion and caring; a place where people take the time to listen and share; a place of faith and hope.

We work with children whose complex medical conditions are difficult to diagnose and treat. Many times, the families of these children have gone to large medical centers, seeking answers. In many cases, these children’s diseases are so rare that, after long hospitalizations and expensive testing, doctors were unable to provide a diagnosis. Children often suffer needlessly for months and sometimes years.

Our clinic is a special place for these children. With our expertise in diagnosing, treating and researching rare genetic disorders, we can often provide long-awaited answers to families and specialized care to their children.

A Medical Home

We work closely with our patient families, 70% of whom are Amish. We provide a warm, welcoming place, where all who pass through our doors feel at home and comfortable.

Our approach to medical care is built on the concept of a “medical home” as defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Our highly personalized patient care is:

  • Accessible – We provide comprehensive medical care in a familiar environment close to home.
  • Family-centered – We make medical decisions together with the family.
  • Continuous – We provide the care our patients need from infancy through adulthood.
  • Comprehensive – We offer primary, preventive and specialty care, saving families in our community from traveling to different doctors and facilities.
  • Coordinated – We coordinate patient care plans with other providers when needed.
  • Compassionate – We’re committed to our patients, and no family is ever turned away based on inability to pay.
  • Culturally sensitive – We’re sensitive to the beliefs, culture and traditions of those we serve.

Patient Care, Research and Education

Our clinic is a unique collaboration of our Amish and non-Amish communities, dedicated doctors and experienced researchers all working together to find answers for parents and treatments for children.

Located in Middlefield, Ohio, in the heart of the world’s fourth largest Amish settlement, DDC Clinic was founded in 1998 by a group of Amish families who were committed to helping special children get the care they needed. Recognizing a need to bring our specialized care to more families in communities outside of our own, we opened a satellite clinic in Titusville, Pennsylvania in early 2024.

Since our humble beginnings, our clinic has grown into a world-class medical facility with cutting edge research capabilities and an onsite certified molecular diagnostics laboratory serving patients, families and health professionals worldwide.

Our work encompasses three critical areas of medical services – patient care, research and education. We provide personalized medical care for special needs children with over 160 different rare conditions, and we have served more than 1,500 patient families in 35 states, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.

Our research efforts have contributed to new discoveries, improved treatments and greater global understanding of rare diseases. We’ve been recognized internationally for our state-of-the-art genetic research impacting broad-based health concerns such as heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders.

Although our clinic has global reach, we remain firmly rooted in our Amish community. Our patients and their families are the very reason our clinic was established, and they will always remain at the center of our work.

Our Funding

Our clinic is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We depend on contributions, fundraisers, clinical services, research contracts and individual giving to fund our operation and fulfill our mission. Committed to providing the best possible care and support to our patient families, 87 cents out of every dollar we spend goes directly to our program services.

We’re grateful to our many supporters whose generosity and compassion make it possible for children affected by rare genetic disorders to get the life-changing medical care they need.