JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Construction on St. Mary's Janesville Hospital will start very soon, and that means lots of positions are about to open up.

Dean Health System and SSM Health Care Wisconsin announced the $150 million project in April 2008.

It will mean hundreds of jobs in Janesville, and already, many are putting themselves in position to take advantage of those opportunities.

In a few years, students in a Friday afternoon chemistry class at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County could be working across town.

Many are majoring in nursing and said they see the St. Mary's Janesville Hospital as a new opportunity.

"It's all I've wanted to do since I was 3 or 4," said student Ali Schmidt.

By the time Schmidt earns her degree, the new hospital will likely be hiring. She said she's eager to put college behind.

"It feels like it's never going to end, and I just want to start my career and start going in the direction I'm going to be going in," said Schmidt.

Schmidt said she wants to stay close to home.

So does Jessica Coburn, who is changing careers.

"I'll be a bachelor's degree nurse so I'm hoping that I'll be able to be looking at a lot of different fields within that," said Coburn.

Hospital officials said that when the hospital opens, 260 new jobs will be in place.

That number could rise as high as 500. Officials said many of those positions will be nurses.

"If you think about who runs the hospital, or who works in the hospital, 24 hours a day seven days a week, that happens to be your nursing staff. So we'll have the opportunity to bring on a lot of nurses," said Kerry Swanson, president of St. Mary's Janesville Hospital.

Swanson expects hiring will take place well before the facility opens late in 2011.

"We also have an opportunity to do a lot of staff development as we hire new people in. We can actually go up to St. Mary's in Madison and start the training there," said Swanson.

Until then, area students are busy preparing for the future.

"I'm anticipating the moment," said Schmidt.

Hospital officials said it will take two years to complete once construction crews start. Jobs will be posted online at healthyjanesville.com as they become available.

Rock County has the highest unemployment rate in the state.

During the credit crunch last fall, the hospital project was delayed indefinitely, but this summer officials announced that the project would continue.