ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Dr. Richard Daines M.D. ’78, the innovative commissioner who left a lucrative private sector career to fight for public health issues including a battle against childhood obesity, has died.

Daines died unexpectedly Saturday at home two months after he stepped down from public office, said his spokesperson, Claudia Hutton. He was 60.

Daines, a former Mormon missionary, led former Gov. David Paterson’s effort to create a “fat tax” on soda that would fund programs to fight childhood obesity. The former Eagle Scout and Scout master waged his campaign in English and Spanish and included some of the first uses of YouTube by a state commissioner.

He also managed the controversial closing of hospitals and hospital wings to reduce the cost of the Medicaid health care system for the poor.

The cause of death has not been confirmed. Daines was found by state police in his barn in Stanfordville, Dutchess County, where he had been taking down Christmas decorations. It appeared Daines was in overall good health but might have had a heart attack, Hutton said.

“Richard Daines was an outstanding physician, a proud Cornell alumnus, a loving husband and parent, including father of two Cornellians, and a dedicated public servant who cared deeply about public health and the future of health care within our state. With his passing, New York State has lost a great leader, and we at Cornell have lost a dear friend,” President David Skorton said.  

Survivors include his wife, Linda; three children; and a grandson. One of Daines’ children is Andrew Daines ’10, a former Sun columnist. 

Before joining state government in 2007 as part of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to bring what he called the best and brightest minds to Albany, Daines was chief executive of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in Manhattan.

In Albany, Daines promoted the development of primary care and patient-centered medical homes. He also created a new office in the department to focus on health information technology.

This month, Daines was to be a visiting scholar at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was saddened by the news.

“Dr. Daines worked tirelessly to improve the health of all New Yorkers, and his knowledge and deep faith has left a lasting impression on all those who worked with him,” Cuomo said. “This is a tremendous loss not just for the state, but for the entire medical community.”

Daines was widely respected even as the two governors who appointed him were sunk by scandal. Spitzer resigned after a prostitution investigation in 2008, and Paterson left office Dec. 31 low in the polls after abandoning his run for a full term.

Daines graduated from Utah State University in 1974 and served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bolivia from 1970 to 1972. He attended Cornell University Medical College soon afterward and graduated in 1978.

A viewing is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, 1076 Madison Ave. in Manhattan. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 217 87th St. in Manhattan.

Laura Shepard contributed reporting to this story.