Pete Yonsetto:
Profile of a Telemedicine Video
Conferencing Administrator
B y J an e E r i k s o n o n
October 2, 2014
When Pete Yonsetto applied for an
opening with the Arizona Telemedicine
Program, he wasn’t sure it was the
right job for him.
But a college professor was adamant.
“Apply!” she ordered. So he did. And he
got the job.
Today – 14 years later – there is no
doubt in Yonsetto’s mind that the
job is a perfect fit. Telemedicine is all
about connections. And so is he.
“What I need in my life and my work
is connecting with people, and being
able to offer a service that is helpful to
them. That’s the really gratifying piece
of this work,” says Yonsetto, video
conferencing administrator for the
Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP)
network.
“he connects people and programs
throughout the ATP network of 170
sites in 60 communities”His first
role with ATP was in teleradiology,
then telepsychiatry. Now he connects
people and programs throughout
the ATP network of 170 sites in 60
communities.
Yonsetto graduated from The
University of Arizona in 1987 with a
degree in management information
systems. But when he was hired for
the ATP job, he had no experience
in remote networking, or the
infrastructure it required.
But he learned. And as he points out,
teleradiology was “a big telemedicine
hit from the get go.” Other early
successes were telepathology and
telepsychiatry.
Fourteen years ago, Yonsetto was
one of three ATP staffers who were
responsible for setting up equipment
and communication lines at the UA
base and at the rural clinics and
hospitals that chose to be part of the
ATP network.
One of Yonsetto’s earliest connections
was with Lynn Bedoni, telemedicine
coordinator for what is now Tuba
City Regional Health Care, a hospital
and outpatient care system that
covers 6,000 square miles on the
western side of the Navajo and Hopi
reservations.
Yonsetto, who was born in Tucson and
has lived most of his life here, was only
slightly familiar with Arizona’s Indian
reservations when he joined ATP.
He connects people
and programs
throughout the ATP
network of 170 sites
in 60 communities.
“Now I consider Lynn and other Native
Americans who I’ve worked with to
be very good friends,” Yonsetto says.
“I have been able to learn about their
culture and lifestyle, and that’s been
very enlightening to me. Lynn has
shared with me places for hiking, and
places where her grandparents have
gone. If I ever want a special tour, or to
go to a ceremony on the reservation,
I would not hesitate to ask. They have
given me an open invitation.”
Before he joined ATP, Yonsetto had
a lengthy history of working with
people in need. His jobs included
working with teens and young adults
through Pima County’s Job Training
Partnership, and working as a manager
with the county public fiduciary,
serving vulnerable adults who are
disconnected from their families, live
with serious mental or physical health
issues, or both, and are not able to
survive on their own.
“It was a great organization doing
good things for people,” Yonsetto says.
“I knew then I just couldn’t work at a
job that wasn’t about making things
better for people.”
For the past 14 years Yonsetto
also has spent one night a week at
Pima Community College, teaching
citizenship classes to refugees and
immigrants.
“The people are wonderful. Many of
them have survived horrible pasts.
They’ve never written in any language,
not even their own. They have to learn
to read and speak a new language,
and it’s just so wonderful to see their
confidence grow as they learn.”
With telemedicine, Yonsetto says,
“I see sort of the same thing. I see
a lot of our population as living in
hardship, and through our complex
technology we can really help people
with disabilities and barriers to
transportation and education.”
Yonsetto is excited about the future of
telemedicine.
“I feel very strongly about home-health
care. I see it as our future, especially
as our population ages, I think our
technology will be vital. I think one day
seeing your doctor is going to be as
easy as flipping on your TV and turning
to a certain channel. I would love to be
a part of that evolution, to be in on all
the new things that telemedicine can
provide.”
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