An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody, William M. Blanscet, died the evening of March 19, 2023. Blanscet was incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) in Salem and passed away in the infirmary while on hospice care. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police have been notified.

Blanscet entered DOC custody on April 9, 2004, from Josephine County with an earliest release date of April 2, 2032. Blanscet was 53 years old. Next of kin has been notified.

DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 12,000 men and women who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.

OSP is a multi-custody prison located in Salem that houses approximately 2,000 adults in custody. OSP is surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall with 10 towers. The facility has multiple special housing units including disciplinary segregation, behavioral health, intermediate care housing, and an infirmary (with hospice) with 24-hour nursing care. OSP participates in prison industries with Oregon Corrections Enterprises including the furniture factory, laundry, metal shop, and contact center. It provides a range of correctional programs and services including education, work-based education, work crews, and pre-release services. OSP was established in 1866 and, until 1959, was Oregon’s only prison.

####

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody, Richard Donald Mortimore, died the morning of March 18, 2023. Mortimore was incarcerated at Two Rivers Correctional Institution (TRCI) in Umatilla and passed away in the infirmary. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police have been notified.

Mortimore entered DOC custody on January 16, 2020, Marion County with an earliest release date of August 6, 2029. Mortimore was 73 years old. Next of kin has been notified.

DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of 12,000 individuals who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.

TRCI is a multi-custody prison in Umatilla that houses approximately 1,800 adults in custody. TRCI participates in prison industries with Oregon Corrections Enterprises including institution and industrial laundry, mattress manufacturing, and sewing. Other institution work programs include reparation and cleaning of irrigation ditches, maintenance of local baseball fields, and work with local cities and the Hermiston School District. The facility provides a range of correctional programs and services including education, religious services, and behavioral health services. TRCI opened in 2000.

####

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody, Donald Dale Johnson, died the afternoon of March 17, 2023. Johnson was incarcerated at Snake River Correctional Institution (SRCI) in Ontario and passed away at a local hospital. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police have been notified. 

Johnson entered DOC custody on July 14, 2016, from Linn County with an earliest release date of October 28, 2028. Johnson was 73 years old. Next of kin has been notified.

DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 12,000 individuals who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.

SRCI is a multi-custody prison in Ontario that houses approximately 3,000 adults in custody. SRCI has multiple special housing units including disciplinary segregation, intensive management, infirmary (with hospice) with 24-hour nursing care, and an administrative segregation unit. SRCI participates in prison industries with Oregon Corrections Enterprises including a contact center, laundry, and sign shop. SRCI specializes in incentive housing, specialized housing, individuals with mental health/medical vulnerabilities, education and trades programs, cognitive and parenting programs, and institution work programs. SRCI opened in 1991 and is the largest correctional institution in the state.

####

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody, Keith Edward Wild, passed away March 15, 2023. Wild was incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution (EOCI) in Pendleton and passed away at the facility. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police have been notified, and the State Medical Examiner will determine cause of death. 

Wild entered DOC custody on May 12, 2020, from Jackson County, with an earliest release date July 12, 2026. Wild was 55 years old. Next of kin has been notified.

DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 12,000 men and women who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.

EOCI is a multi-custody prison located in Pendleton that houses over 1,550 adults in custody. The institution is known for its Oregon Corrections Enterprises industries, including a garment factory that produces Prison Blues©, whose products are sold in and outside the United States. Other industries are its embroidery and laundry facilities. EOCI provides a range of correctional programs and services including education, drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, religious services, and work crews. The buildings that make up EOCI were constructed in 1912 and 1913 and were originally used as a state mental hospital. After two years of renovation, EOCI received its first occupants in June 1985.

####

Oregon State Penitentiary

In partnership with Oregon State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and Portland State University

Story by: Steve Lundeberg

PORTLAND, Ore. – People recently released from prison in Oregon face a risk for opioid overdose 10 times greater than the general public, according to a new study led by an Oregon State University College of Pharmacy scientist.

The research by Dan Hartung of OSU, Elizabeth Needham Waddell of the Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health and Katherine A. Kempany of the Oregon Department of Corrections underscores the need to help adults formerly in custody stay safe – especially during the first two weeks after release from incarceration when their opioid overdose risk is double that of any other time period.

Drug overdose, particularly opioid overdose, is a leading cause of death among people who have recently been in prison, not just in the U.S. but around the world. The new study is one of the few that takes into account not just fatal overdoses but also non-fatal ones, which often are accompanied by burns, seizures, neuropathy, infections and fall-related injuries, the authors note.

Findings, which showed women were more at risk of opioid overdose than men, were published in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment.

Hartung, Waddell and Kempany analyzed a dataset that combined Oregon death statistics from 2014 to 2018 with corrections, Medicaid, and hospital admission and discharge information.

“We used Medicaid claims data as our main way of detecting overdose events identified in the emergency department or through a hospitalization,” Hartung said. “Nearly 90% of people released from the Oregon Department of Corrections are enrolled in Medicaid.”

Medicaid is a state-administered health insurance program for low-income and disabled individuals, and the Oregon Department of Corrections submits Medicaid enrollment applications for almost all adults in custody prior to their release, Kempany said.

The integrated data enabled the scientists to estimate the number of opioid overdoses among people recently released from prison, and the researchers found the frequency of overdose was “exceedingly high” –1,086 overdoses per 100,000 “person years,” a statistical metric for describing rate of incidence within a population.

The rate of 1,086 per 100,000 person years far exceeded that of the general public in Oregon – 93 overdoses per 100,000 person years – and also a Medicaid population of new prescription opioid users, whose rate was 247 per 100,000 person years.

“And taking everything into account, the risk estimates we developed for the recently incarcerated are likely conservative,” Hartung said. “Many people with substance use disorders end up in the criminal justice system, and prisons and jails have historically not been equipped to manage the health care needs of high-risk individuals.”

Nearly two-thirds of all adults in custody in the United States have a documented substance use disorder, Kempany said. According to data from 2019 cited in this research, roughly 1.4 million people in the United States are housed in state and federal prisons, and more than 600,000 are released from custody each year.

“There is a lot of research that provides insights into specific factors that might modify overdose risk, but much of it is based on vital statistics data – i.e., fatalities – and those make up a minority of all overdoses,” Waddell said. “The objective of our study was to estimate risk of both fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose, and also to examine differences in the risk profile by sex.”

In Oregon, more than 18,000 individuals left prison from 2014 through 2017. More than 80% of those people were males in the 26-64 age range, two-thirds had a documented substance use disorder treatment need, and one in five had demonstrated mental health treatment need that reached the level of SMI, or serious mental illness.

The adults released during that span experienced a total of 579 opioid overdoses, including 65 that were fatal.

“The overdose risk was highest in the first two weeks – 2,286.7 per 100,000 person years,” Waddell said. “The risk was highest among women and those with mental health or substance use disorder treatment needs.”

Women who had been incarcerated suffered opioid overdose at a rate of 1,582.9 per 100,000 person years, and the rates for those with mental illness and substance use disorder were 1,624.3 and 1,382.6, respectively. Among women released from prison, the higher rate is related to a greater mental health burden, Waddell said.

“There is wide consensus that medications for opioid use disorder are highly effective at reducing the risk of overdose and other addiction-related negative health outcomes,” she said. “However, providing those medications for individuals in prison is still fairly uncommon nationally.”

In recent years, Kempany said, the Oregon Department of Corrections has significantly expanded its medication program to include continuing established treatment upon incarceration and offering eligible patients a medication protocol when they are within 13 months of their predicted release date.

“Studies indicate that type of medication program contributes to improved outcomes,” Kempany said. “Evidence from several randomized clinical trials suggests that people treated with medications for opioid use disorder while in prison are substantially more likely after release to engage with treatment in the community.”

The heightened risk of opioid overdose among people recently released from prison highlights the need to develop, implement and expand strategies and interventions to protect those individuals when they are at their most vulnerable, the researchers say.

“Prisons and jails need to do more to ensure incarcerated individuals have access to lifesaving medications for opioid use disorder, and other harm-reduction interventions such as Narcan, during and after their release into their community,” Kempany said.

This research was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also participating in the study were Caitlin McCracken of the OSU College of Pharmacy and Thuan Nguyen of the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health.

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody who walked away from a work crew is back in custody. Nathan Joyce walked away from a Santiam Correctional Institution work crew at Cascade Gateway Park in Salem on February 21, 2023.

Joyce was arrested in Snohomish County, WA at approximately 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 1, 2023, by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. 

####

An Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) adult in custody, Richard Leonard Gorman, died the afternoon of February 27, 2023. Gorman was incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) in Salem and passed away in the infirmary while on hospice care. As with all in-custody deaths, the Oregon State Police have been notified. 

Gorman entered DOC custody on April 29, 2009, from Washington County with an earliest release date of November 13, 2028. Gorman was 59 years old.

DOC takes all in-custody deaths seriously. The agency is responsible for the care and custody of approximately 12,000 men and women who are incarcerated in 12 institutions across the state. While crime information is public record, DOC elects to disclose only upon request out of respect for any family or victims.

OSP is a multi-custody prison located in Salem that houses approximately 2,000 adults in custody. OSP is surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall with 10 towers. The facility has multiple special housing units including disciplinary segregation, behavioral health, intermediate care housing, and an infirmary (with hospice) with 24-hour nursing care. OSP participates in prison industries with Oregon Corrections Enterprises including the furniture factory, laundry, metal shop, and contact center. It provides a range of correctional programs and services including education, work-based education, work crews, and pre-release services. OSP was established in 1866 and, until 1959, was Oregon’s only prison.

####