Shown after Monday evening's program at the Washington Lions Club are (l to r) program chairman Bobby West, speaker Sherrye Denard, and Lion President Mary Hubbard. West's faithful "Seeing Eye" dog, Franklin, accompanied him. A Washington practitioner in the burgeoning nursing home industry presented a message of both warning and praise regarding ways to obtain the best of health care for the rapidly growing population of dependent senior citizens.

Sherrye Denard, activities director of Wilkes Health Care Center in Washington, called attention to the widening impact of maturing "Baby Boomers" on the industry. She began by cautioning seniors and their caretakers against falling victim to various deceptive and fraudulent Medicare Advantage supplementary insurance plans.

Citing a recent article in "Your Health" magazine, Denard used the experience of an Oklahoma man who was stuck with a $16,000 bill after being duped into enrolling into a Medicare Advantage HMO. "The saleswoman said it was supplementary insurance that paid what Medicare didn't," he said. "She lied."

"Don't get tricked or pressured into accepting something you don't really understand," Denard advised. "Some unscrupulous agents have told people that the original Medi- care was closing down and that they should join an MA plan to keep coverage. That is simply not true."

On the brighter side, Denard praised the quality of local nursing homes and other levels of health care. "Making the decision to place a loved one into a nursing facility is almost always an emotional and stressful time," she added. "I can tell you from personal experience that the staff and volunteers at Wilkes Health Care Center are committed to providing quality care with an extra warm and personal touch. Our residents are spoiled rotten."