What: More than 3,000 Elgin-area residents will get their first and only tour inside the new Sherman Hospital – the first hospital built in Kane County in more than a decade – before it opens December 15, 2009.

For more than three years residents have watched the land on the corner of Big Timber and Randall roads be transformed from farmland to the 255-bed, 645,000 square-foot hospital. The new Sherman features some of the most advanced medical equipment in the Chicago area and an energy-efficient geothermal lake that heats and cools the facility.

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009

Where: New Sherman Hospital, 1425 Randall Road in Elgin

Visuals: Breathtaking views of the 15-acre geothermal lake, the one-of-a-kind architectural wonder called the Tree of Life in the entrance, advanced medical equipment in the surgery rooms and emergency department, and the awe on residents’ faces as they see inside the new hospital for the first time.

Interviews: Interviews will be available throughout the event with Rick Floyd, Sherman Health president & CEO, Chris Priester, new hospital transition director/marketing and public relations director for Sherman Health, and Joan Kanute, transitions director for operations at Sherman Hospital.

Parking/Arrival: Media should use the main entrance of the hospital located on Randall Road, north of Big Timber, where attendants will direct you to reserved media parking. Please show your media identification to the attendants and they will direct you. We ask that you enter the building at the main entrance, check in at the information desk and ask to have Michelle Howe or Josh McColough paged.

Resulting coverage:

The Elgin Courier News -- Dec. 7, 2009

WFLD-TV Channel 32 (FOX) -- Dec. 6, 2009

WGN-TV Channel 9 (CW) -- Dec. 6, 2009