Shawn Bolton was easily one of the most important figures working in the background at the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Bolton, who was then director of the Systems, Information and Technology Unit (SITU) at the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), was responsible for contributing to the communication strategy for the Health Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), the central coordinating hub for any health response, crisis or disaster.

Bolton said that he provided social diversity for COVID-19 patients who were being housed in several government-managed quarantine, isolation and observation facilities. This was to ensure that the patients had connectivity throughout their quarantine or isolation periods and were able to stay in touch with family and friends.

“There was the need for… communication to and from these facilities, so that includes Internet access, telephone communications and network communications for the clients and for healthcare workers for reporting purposes, etc,” a ministry release quotes Bolton, adding that this EOC goal was a primary mandate for him.

He also played a role in helping to make the EOC more efficient in its operations.

“I transitioned some of the processes within the EOC… from a paper-based system to a more digitalised form of communication; so, I improved communication for the EOC between health facilities, health departments and quarantine facilities,” said Bolton.

He added that his role was expanded when Jamaica’s vaccination programme began.

“As part of COVID-19 response again, there was need for tracking and case management of the vaccines. There are several brands that were introduced to Jamaica and over 1.5 million doses have already been administered,” Bolton said.

“I was integral in terms of deploying a solution to record all of the doses that have been administered and to provide analysis on those doses. So, there are reporting tools that have been deployed that are used by health-care workers and executives,” Bolton noted.

He pointed out that as the country embraces the digital age, the MOHW has produced COVID-19 digital certificates, which the population can easily download for internal use and for travel. The implementation of this programme was also one of his responsibilities.

Bolton’s journey in the public service began at the Ministry of Finance in 1997 in finance and accounts. In 2008 he made a career switch to information communication technology (ICT).

In 2019, he left the Ministry of Finance as a technical manager and stepped into his new role at the health ministry as the director of SITU. There he spent approximately two years before availing himself of an opportunity to work on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Health Systems Strengthening Programme in 2021. The project, he explained, looks at strengthening health care within the Government service and encompasses physical and ICT infrastructure.

Component one of the programme deals with physical building up of hospitals and health centres, component two deals with non-communicable diseases and telehealth solutions.

Bolton was recently appointed a consultant for the Ministry of Health on the IDB project which is handling the implementation of ICT managed services for the health ministry. This involves the deployment of computers and the Vaccine Implementation Programme for the MOHW.

Bolton explained that ICT managed services is responsible for the deployment and upgrade of ICT infrastructure within 105 health facilities across Jamaica. This includes 24 hospitals and 81 health centres.

Under the programme, some health centres will be retrofitted, and some health centres and hospitals upgraded with network infrastructure, cabling, network devices, firewalls, routers, access points, fibre, security protocols, etc.

Bolton is also responsible for the implementation of two data centres, one at eGov Jamaica and the other to be hosted at the Mandeville regional office. This is to facilitate a private cloud for the MOHW which will also enable high-speed Internet and wide area network, connecting the 105 facilities for fast integration and access to information. “So this is pretty much a centralised model for the MOHW, data and health related applications,” Bolton said.

“In terms of the vaccine project, I have been charged with the responsibility for implementing and coordinating the appointments, case tracking and digital documentation for the COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccine Management System for the Government of Jamaica since March 10, 2021,” he added.

Although not serving on the front line, Bolton’s role in Jamaica’s COVID-19 response cannot be overlooked. For his efforts, he is being recognised as one of Jamaica’s health-care heroes during July, which is being observed as Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month.