HCFANY has just learned that Dr. Richard Daines, New York’s Commissioner of Health from 2007-2010, passed away unexpectedly this weekend.  ?Dr. Daines helped to shape many of New York’s large-scale health care reform initiatives, including expansions of public programs, quality improvement initiatives,  investments in information technology, and the Partnership for Coverage process.

Prior to his work at the State, Dr. Daines served as a physician for 25 years at St. Barnabus in the South Bronx, during the height of the AIDS epidemic, and later as Medical Director at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt.  ??He was scheduled to start as a visiting scholar at the New York Academy of Medicine in just a few weeks.

HCFANY will remember Dr. Daines as a health care champion.  He was a thoughtful man, and a dedicated advocate for primary and preventative care. 

Our hearts go out to his family and friends.

.