‘It’s my mission to help people’

Rohan Smith, director of Management Information Systems, is a solutions-oriented problem solver who for the past 22 years has worked at the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA).

He began in the Medical Records Department at the Mandeville Regional Hospital (MRH), before going to Management Information Systems (MIS) in 2014. A native of Mandeville, Manchester, Smith now leads a team of eight in the Management Information Systems Department.

“I really love this organisation because it’s part of a ‘mercy’ profession – that helps people, so were I not doing this, I would be a pastor or doing medicine because it’s my mission to help people. But, I am a programmer by nature; I like challenges that give me the opportunity to find solutions,” Smith said.

Over the years, Smith pursued his studies on the job and also gained valuable experience when he took a 17-month break to work with a Canada-based health sector company. As their IT developer and one of the team leads, Smith worked on major projects, including the transformation of the Ottawa Hospital’s Information Systems.

“That experience taught me to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines; it helped me develop personally but being a newly-wed, I had to travel between homes in Mandeville and Kingston, and many mornings I was tired and fatigued upon reaching work,” Smith said.

Smith says his strength comes from using both sides of his brain simultaneously; he’s highly technical, but also very sensitive and able to feel things and interpret them, so programming and his other passion – music – are closely intertwined.

He shares that his strategy over the past six years that he has led the team at MIS is to begin each day by first handling calls which came in overnight.

“I ensure all systems are functioning; I answer questions, check mail and prioritise how the day will go. But the COVID-19 pandemic changed that and with the urgency of situation, a typical day went out the window,” he said.

“Our first task was to set up Emergency Operating Centres (EOC), so we had to quickly get all of them up and running by installing communications devices in all three parishes, commissioning phone lines, we had to implement computer systems, monitoring and tracking systems and ensure that daily reports were generated on time for the ministry,” Smith details.

With SRHA’s emergency mode in full throttle, Smith and his team were on call 24/7 to monitor all systems. Clarendon was the first location where “all hell broke loose” when the first case struck there; so Smith and his team got the first isolation ward up and ready with cameras, cables, new ways to see patients and teams prepared to work until 3:00 many mornings when necessary.

“All this was while ensuring my personal safety and that of my family because we have a young son and my wife is a nurse who was also working double shifts. Our son sensed the disquiet between us, and my parents being over 60 years with comorbidities, also relied on us for guidance in managing the pandemic,” Smith said.

Smith recalls how it was virtually impossible to avoid his son with whom he shares a close bond, as the lad stayed up late to await his arrival home. He had to quickly undress and sanitise before making any contact with him. Smith said there were many nights that he arrived home convinced that having been in sensitive areas all day, he too had caught the virus. It was a frightening time.

“I became sleep deprived and I worried about my wife who came in close contact with COVID-19 daily. She had to be quarantined many times after her colleagues got it. I had to conceal my worry out of concern for others who depended on me for support at home and work,” he said.

The pandemic has changed Smith’s approach to work, and now he always deals with emergencies first. He was also called on to lead the national drive to the system for the national vaccine distribution alongside managing SRHA’s IT infrastructure.

“I was part of the team set up by the permanent secretary and the health minister to roll out the appointment system islandwide. It generated real-time information for all the health officials to share with the media and others. It is still being used,” he noted.

The team also set up the appointment scheduling system in the island and at ports of entry. This could take an entire day, especially when they had to prepare for blitzes to accommodate thousands of people. Throughout the period, Smith suffered sleepless nights and had to seek medical help to keep his head clear for the job.

“The pandemic changed how my team approaches work; we now streamline calls so we make the first move if we anticipate a call and reduce the daily rush, and we tag urgent tasks for priority. I also encourage team members to take occasional breaks, since no one took vacations during the pandemic,” he said.

Outside the work environment, Smith enjoys cricket, football and music, plays several instruments and he preaches sometimes, having graduated from a Bible college. This aspect of his life helps to keep him grounded.

“I am a part of some gospel bands, which helps to build me. It’s my way of escape; in my teens when many of my friends were partying, I was into playing keyboard, bass and drums – the latter from I was five years old,” said Smith, who leads the music ministry at his church. He is also a regular at church concerts, conventions and rallies.