Don't hold your breath waiting for the Ken Burns Mayo Clinic documentary

It wouldn't be surprising if more sightings of filmmaker Ken Burns were reported in Rochester over the next couple of years.

Because it'll apparently be late next year before his two-hour documentary on the Mayo Clinic actually hits the airwaves.

Word that Burns' Mayo project was in the works came out in October. Now the Star Tribune reports it's likely to debut on PBS late next year.

Burns is co-producing The Mayo Clinic with Erik and Chris Ewers as part of his company's "Next Generation" series, in which younger filmmakers get a chance to work alongside the Emmy winner.

But Burns tells the Star Tribune "I'm way more involved than I'd thought I'd be," and calls Mayo's story amazing.

We don't mean to steal Mr. Burns' thunder, but we'll tell you that the clinic traces its roots back more than 150 years to a tornado that swept through Rochester.

A country doctor named W.W. Mayo and his two sons joined forces with the Sisters of St. Francis to help treat the injured and the rest, as they say, is history (which Mayo itself does a pretty good job of telling on its website).

The new documentary will not be strictly history, though. Mayo said last fall: "The producers have indicated they intend to weave past and present narratives throughout the film, and described the concept as 'telling the history and present story of Mayo Clinic on a parallel timeline.'"

So stay tuned. For a couple of years, maybe.