Former LSU Health chancellor spent charity funds on lavish trips, dinners,

While chancellor of LSU Health in New Orleans, Larry Hollier used a special account to buy wedding gifts, liquor, lavish dinners and travel for himself and his wife that included luxury hotel stays, limousines and first-class flights, records show.

Though his annual pay was above $1 million — more than almost every LSU employee — Hollier had tens of thousands of dollars in expenses reimbursed each year by the LSU Health Foundation New Orleans, a university-affiliated nonprofit that acts as the medical school’s fundraising arm.

Hollier stepped down as chancellor last fall after LSU auditors said Hollier tried to sidestep university policies while authorizing pay hikes for his inner circle, among other allegations. But that report did not address his expenditure of foundation money that, while private, is collected to serve the medical school’s public purpose.

Hollier’s foundation account also had far fewer controls.

No one at the foundation ever objected to reimbursing Hollier, even when he didn’t provide detailed receipts or explain how the spending was helping to fulfill the nonprofit’s mission, records show.

In many instances, there’s no indication that anyone at LSU or the foundation reviewed his spending at all, even though it appears similar to foundation expenses charged by another LSU official that created controversy more than a decade ago.

The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate and WWL-TV uncovered the extent of the spending after reviewing nearly 600 pages of Hollier’s reimbursement requests. The news organizations shared their findings with Hollier’s successor, Steve Nelson, who said through a spokesperson that he would not use the account the same way.

Since 2018, Hollier’s expenses included a trip to New York, where the costs of his and his wife’s hotel stay averaged $574 a night. He was there to attend a single-day event, but the couple arrived three days early and charged more than $4,200 for their lodging, meals and a luxury car service, records show.

There were eight other instances where Hollier charged the foundation for travel with his wife, including stays in Boca Raton, Fla., Los Angeles and Texas. He didn’t always explain the purpose of the trips or why his wife came along. He bought first-class flights for himself and his wife for three of the trips, and flew first class on his own for two other trips, records show. His wife was also reimbursed for her registration fees for at least two conferences.

Overall, Hollier billed the foundation for at least $128,000 over three years, records show.

That would have been enough to cover a year of in-state tuition for four medical students. The foundation offers…