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For the last three years during annual contract talks, Albany Medical Center said it would terminate its contract with Capital District Physicians' Health Plan.
It was expected, said Dr. William Cromie, the 370,000-member health plan's president and CEO. This year Albany Med dropped a bomb.
The Capital Region's sole medical center-the only place a number of specialized services are provided-ran an ad in the Sunday, Nov. 16 editions of the Times Union and The Daily Gazette announcing that it might not be part of the CDPHP network in 2004 because the health plan refused to pay reasonable fees.
Cromie said he was stunned when Albany Med went public with what normally are confidential negotiations.
"We believed we were in the middle of goodfaith negotiations when this ad was produced," Cromie said. "We had every intention of dealing with the details that were necessary to come to the agreement.
Albany Med ran the advertisement because of "an ethical obligation to let people know that as of now, we will...