Cook County Commissioners have less than three weeks to come up with a budget for the new fiscal year. But they’re $238-million short. County departments had been told to look at reducing their budgets by 13 percent.

Yesterday, commissioners sorted through those results. Robert Simon heads the Bureau of Health Services. He says without a full budget, the department would have to look at closing two of its hospitals: Provident and Oak Forest.

SIMON: We looked at every possible angle. There’s just nowhere else to cut, commissioners, without simply cutting services.

As part of last year’s budget crisis, the Bureau of Health reduced its costs by $100-million.

But Board President Todd Stroger says more may be needed. He says he’s looking to restructure the way the health department is organized as a way to save money.