Why Jim Bernhard stepped down from LSU’s Board of Supervisors remains unclear, but Acadian Ambulance Service CEO Richard Zuschlag, the board’s newest appointee, says he’s been ready to get to work for the past week.
Zuschlag is filling the at-large board seat formerly held by Collis B. Temple Jr., who, in turn, is moving into the one representing Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, which was vacated by Bernhard for unspecified reasons. The governor’s office deferred all comment to Bernhard, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment before this afternoon’s deadline.
Zuschlag says he wasn’t even aware that the private equity magnate had declined his position until Daily Report broke the news earlier today. But he has known about his appointment since last Thursday, when Gov. John Bel Edwards called Zuschlag to see if he would like to take Temple’s board seat.
“Gov. Edwards had asked me if I was interested in serving back in March, but I didn’t get the appointment until last week,” says Zuschlag, who founded Acadian Ambulance Service in Lafayette nearly 50 years ago. “I didn’t know it was happening … I thought there might be a chance, but I had no idea when.”
Zuschlag immediately said yes when called, noting he’s honored to join the board, which oversees the LSU System—especially given that his son and many of his employees have graduated from the state’s flagship university. Like Bernhard and Temple, who were appointed just weeks ago, Zuschlag is also an Edwards supporter and campaign donor.
While he hasn’t been able to meet with fellow board members in person yet, Zuschlag has met them via Zoom, saying he wants to spend the next few months working in collaboration with the other supervisors and learning as much as he can.
Additionally, the Lafayette-based executive, whose company is now 80% employee-owned, says he’s particularly interested in the university system’s health care operations in New Orleans and Shreveport.
“LSU serves a lot of different interests in our state, and it’s a much larger operation than I realized,” he says. “I’m interested in the ways technology is changing to improve patient care, and I respect what LSU has done with its research. I’m really impressed with the people working there.”
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