Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center

Project DIME

For the past 30 years, the Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center at the Orange Grove Center, Inc. in Chattanooga, Tennessee has been a specialized center of innovation. From the vision of Orange Grove Center Board Members in the early 1990s emerged a commitment that people with intellectual disabilities would live their lives filled with enrichment and happiness and that they would have every possible opportunity for self-advocacy and inclusion. A significant part of the Habilitation Center’s mission has focused on medical education and the promotion of people with disabilities’ right to access to quality medical care. One of the many proud accomplishments of the Habilitation Center has been its role in mandating that all dental schools require students to participate in disability training.

At the helm of the Habilitation Center has always been its Director, Dr. Rick Rader. Dr. Rader’s advocacy for people with disabilities and his expertise in this field has opened many doors for people supported by Orange Grove Center and others with disabilities around the globe. Following Dr. Rader’s invitation to address the United Nations about the need for global medical education reform in 2024, Orange Grove Center’s Board of Directors once again envisioned a new possibility of ensuring that the next generation of clinicians would be equipped to treat people with disabilities and approved Dr. Rader’s focus on the mission of Project DIME.

Through the creation of an Advisory Committee and the identification of a strategy to achieve the goals of Project DIME (Disability Inspired Medical Education), Orange Grove Center anticipates meaningful impact on the improvement of future healthcare outcomes nationwide. While historically the Habilitation Center successfully advocated for medical, nursing, and physician assistant education in disability competency, the education was conducted when time allowed and without universal mandates or national acceptance. Today, we envision a future where people with disabilities have access to quality medical care by doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who are educated on their needs and who are committed to positive medical outcomes for all.

For more information, visit projectdime.org.