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- 2024 CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program Service Award
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Program Service Award honors the memory and work of Major General Joseph M. Blumberg, MD, FCAP, and recognizes a member of the CAP who has contributed exceptional and outstanding service to the CAP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program.
Leonas G. Bekeris, MD, FCAP
The College of American Pathologists honors Leonas G. Bekeris, MD, FCAP, with the 2024 CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program Service Award in recognition of his many years of contributing to the Council on Accreditation (COA) as a commissioner and a committee member.
Dr. Bekeris began his medical training in Bogota, Colombia, before pursuing pathology residency in the US at Loyola University in Illinois. Following this, he achieved a faculty appointment at Loyola’s Stritch School of Medicine. He practiced pathology at Loyola University Medical Center, MacNeal Hospital, and Damon/Genesis Clinical Laboratories in Berwyn, Illinois. In 1997 he joined the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s pathology department and served in various pathology roles across University of Pennsylvania hospitals, including as the chair and medical director at Phoenixville Hospital.
In 1984, Dr. Bekeris began working for the CAP as an inspector and has served as a commissioner since 2004. Dr. Bekeris has performed more than 120 inspections, including many international inspections and speaking events. He has been a member of several committees, including the Management Resource Committee, Quality Practices Committee, Inspection Process Committee, Complaints and Investigations Committee, and the International Accreditation Committee. He continues to serve the CAP as the regional commissioner for New York and Pennsylvania, and as deputy regional commissioner for Mexico and Latin America.
Over Dr. Bekeris’ many years of contributions to the COA, he has been a sound and ethical voice for laboratory practice guidance, including leading the charge to improve understanding of laboratory practices and testing the strengths and limitations affecting patient care. His efforts have been invaluable in improving the quality of laboratory testing and proficiency testing processes.
Dr. Bekeris retired in 2021 from Tower Health, in Reading, Pennsylvania, as director of laboratories, but continues to work as a CAP regional commissioner for New York and Pennsylvania and a deputy regional commissioner for Mexico and South America.