Oregon prison to reopen to visitors after inmate illnesses

Ore. prison visits to resume after illness

WILSONVILLE, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Corrections says visiting hours will resume Saturday at the minimum-security wing at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville.

Visits were canceled earlier this week after Oregon health officials began investigating a gastrointestinal illness that affected at least two dozen inmates in the same housing unit at the women’s prison. It’s not clear what caused the outbreak.

State Public Health Division senior epidemiologist William Keene says a norovirus was likely to blame.

Prison and Corrections Department spokesmen were not immediately reachable to comment Friday night. Prison spokeswoman Jana Wong announced the resumption of visiting hours earlier in a statement.

Coffee Creek houses a women’s multi-security prison and a men’s and women’s intake center.

Information from: The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com