The City Council authorized the sale of Mary Greeley Medical Center’s recently inherited Bessie Myers farm Tuesday night.

The authorization gave the city-owned hospital approval to accept $170,000 in purchase monies from Lowell Sansgarrd, a neighboring farmer in the northeast corner of Boone County.

The farm was willed to MGMC by Bessie Myers, a long-time neighbor to the hospital, in addition to a cash gift of $865,000. According to the legal sales document, the gift was “to be used by Mary Greeley Hospital for its general charitable capital purposes.”

The farm was MGMC’s most recent acquisition from the Myers’ estate, having received the cash over a year ago, closer to the time of Bessie’s death, said Sue Ellen Wilcox, director of public and community relations for MGMC.

Although Myers lived within a few blocks of the hospital for several years, she apparently had not been admitted for care. Myers’ contributions to MGMC were not the result of Mary Greeley Foundation fund-raising efforts, and thus have been viewed with some mystery by hospital administration, Wilcox said.

“[Myers] knew that the hospital was there to provide care for her and her sister if she needed it,” Wilcox said, “And we’re very appreciative of Bessie’s gift in the spirit of the hospital.”

Director of development for the Mary Greeley Foundation Barbara Parks said that although the Myers farm had been an unprecedented contribution in dollar value, cash bequests are important to MGMC.

Gift monies are routed to all areas of operation, including the cancer endowment, equipment and scholarships for continuing the education of staff members, Parks said.

“This is just a wonderful gesture for a donor to have the forethought to look ahead to the future and future health care,” Parks said.

The hospital has not made any decisions on distributing the funds from either the sale or the initial $865,000, now earning interest.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest gift ever given to the hospital and we’re very grateful; and it is for that reason that we want to be very careful about how we use it,” Wilcox said.

Councilwoman Ann Campbell said that the Council’s approval was nothing more than a routine legal action that the city must take in order to free the farm from hospital ownership. Wilcox said the farm’s new owner plans to add it to the dimensions of his existing family operation across the road.