The waiting room of the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic sat vacant on Tuesday morning.
Instead of checking on patients, Registered Nurse Leonora Williams acted as receptionist, speaking to one client on the telephone.
Pharmacy Manager Dr. Myahanh Do and others were busy sorting through an ever-thinning inventory on the supply room shelves.
Do and several employees-turned-volunteers were left to turn off the lights at Moss after its executive director, Thomas Brashears, abruptly announced it was closing on June 12, just 15 minutes before the end of the shift.
However, Brashears and the board of directors were initially unaware that the Virginia Board of Pharmacy requires a 30-day notice before shuttering a drugstore. It was Do who discovered the 30-day requirement, as she frantically attempted to educate herself on how —legally — to shut down a pharmacy.
“We very quickly realized it, and we pivoted,” Brashears said.
There was just one problem: No funds were available to compensate the staff members required to keep the pharmacy open.
So, Do huddled with staff to assemble a group of employees who would volunteer to serve the clinic’s clients through July 10. While they’re unpaid for their time and travel, the former employees said their reward is equal parts emotional closure and a final chance to assist the underserved population that so often expressed gratitude for their support.
“I think there is something about this place that was just magical,” said Abbi Kopp, a 14-year pharmacist at the clinic who is now volunteering … “It did so many great things for such a long time. When you go into the retail world or true healthcare, there are things that you’re not able to offer. Here, it may sound cheesy, but there’s something very special about this place, which makes me sad.”
Kopp accepted a job at the Costco pharmacy after the clinic’s closure but finds time to volunteer for hours each day. She’s thankful for another employment opportunity but added: “I don’t think it’s possible to match the energy that we feel here.”
“I think that’s why we’re still here,” Kopp said. “It was just the feeling from the patients, just the gratitude that you were really doing something great for people. It’s more rewarding than a financial reward.”
Williams travels from King George County and spends several hours volunteering as the receptionist, among other duties. She’s actively seeking employment but said she needed to continue at Moss for closure. The Navy veteran said friends questioned her dedication to the clinic, but she is steadfast on ensuring that Moss closes “the right way.”
“The main reason is just the patients. What are they going to do? Where do they need to go? Just figuring things out for them. That’s what keeps me coming, keeps me motivated,” said Williams, who noted she was employed at Moss for 22 years.
Kopp said the goal for the final days is to ensure that clients have an opportunity to pick up prescriptions, and that donated drugs are returned to the sources that provided them. Records for the past six years must be transferred, and Moss also served as the “central fill” location for 14 other clinics in Virginia.
“If we knew the news sooner, we may have better planned this out,” Do said. “We may not have ordered more medication … We also feel for the 14 other clinics. I just wish we had better communication. If they were thinking about closing or had a hard time finding the funding, they should’ve included the leadership like Leonora or myself.”
Pharmacy Manager Dr. Myhanh Do continues to work at the Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic despite its closure on June 12. (Photo by Taft Coghill Jr.)
‘Donor fatigue’ led to closing
Communication wasn’t the only issue at Moss in the past year and a half since Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC) cut off in-kind services, including human resources, payroll and accounting support.
Brashears, who came aboard in 2024 but only took over full-time as the executive director in January, replacing Karen Dulaney, said the board of directors did not realize “how bad it was.” He said he offered to resign to save funds for employees two days before Moss closed.
Brashears said that after MWHC’s withdrawal, Moss was not set up efficiently, with “a million different vendors” performing minimal tasks.
“When I got there, I just started uncovering things left and right,” Brashears said. “Bills that hadn’t been paid, things that had been set up the wrong way once the relationship with Mary Washington ended. Then, when you combine that with the nature of society right now in terms of donor fatigue, it was too big of a hole to climb out of.”
Brashears, who has prior experience fundraising in the world of higher education, emphasized that donor fatigue, or a reluctance to give philanthropically, is a real issue plaguing nonprofit organizations. While some agencies are doing well, he said, many are suffering. Moss raised $134,000 during a fundraiser in May 2024, and an anonymous donor pledged to add $100,000 to that total.
Still, it wasn’t enough. Brashears said the issues at Moss were exacerbated by the fallout from its public split with MWHC.
“People were worried about, if it’s truly viable and who wants to throw money at a sinking ship, to be quite candid,” Brashears said. “I think there was a lot of concern there. I did the best I could to get out and tell people we didn’t want to go anywhere, and we were working our hardest to try to make things happen. But even before I got there, I think the writing had been on the wall.”
Unpaid accounts a bitter pill
One consistent worry among employees was their retirement accounts, which haven’t received deposits since last July, with one Moss worker reportedly missing as much as $12,000.
Brashears said he discovered the problem after an employee alerted him that changes in designations to their retirement account hadn’t taken effect. He learned that last May, the previous administration shifted from using an outsourced accountant to doing the work themselves.
“Well, the last check was cut in July of 2024,” Brashears said … “I discovered, ‘Holy cow, this is what’s going on.’ We immediately talked to an accountant. We had a plan in place to start paying stuff back. We paid some back, but it was just a huge hole we had to get back to.”
Employees said they’re also upset that while the board of directors promised to pay the remaining personal time off and sick leave, that has yet to take place.
“Our last paycheck did not include it, and I have a feeling we will never see it,” Kopp said.
Despite the turbulent past 18 months, the remaining volunteers at Moss hope to depart upbeat. There haven’t been any substantial conversations about being paid for the final 30 days.
But Brashears said he was not surprised several stuck around with no pay because they are “extremely passionate folks” with high character and integrity.
He said Williams is a “fantastic person” and “true professional,” and that Do is an “excellent pharmacist,” a hard worker and mother of two young twins. The staff said supporting Do, who has managed the pharmacy since 2018, was another motivational factor.
“I think my heart is here for everybody, even those that I worked with,” Williams said. “We had such a good rapport. I enjoyed my time here. With things being done that way [with the abrupt announcement], we knew something had to be done. So, we’re just doing as much as we can.”
