Pass Michael Kelleher's Law: No Patient Left Unmonitored
The Issue
My grandfather, Michael Kelleher, was a U.S. Veteran.
His final hospitalization left our family with serious questions about monitoring, deterioration, communication and accountability—questions no family should have to ask after losing someone they love.
I cannot change his final hours. But I can fight to change what happens to the next patient.
I am asking the North Carolina General Assembly to introduce and sponsor Michael Kelleher’s Law — No Patient Left Unmonitored, proposed patient-safety legislation designed to strengthen protections for medically complex, critically ill and deteriorating hospital patients.
Michael Kelleher’s Law would establish seven core protections:
MONITOR — Clear criteria for appropriate monitoring—including oxygen saturation, heart/cardiac and blood-pressure monitoring—when a patient's condition or warning signs require it.
ESCALATE — Stronger sepsis and deterioration protocols, including objective criteria for documented ICU/step-down evaluation when medically complex or high-risk patients worsen.
LISTEN — A clear pathway for patients and authorized family representatives to request urgent reassessment, with a documented clinical response when serious concerns are raised.
CONNECT — Create a standardized Patient Medical Cover Page and strengthen communication of critical health information between hospitals, established primary-care physicians and designated treating providers during qualifying high-risk admissions, deterioration, transfers and discharge.
PRESERVE — Protect critical medical records, monitoring/alarm data, orders, assessments, relevant communications and electronic audit trails following qualifying unexpected hospital deaths.
INVESTIGATE — Require qualifying serious patient-safety events to receive conflict-free independent external review in addition to the hospital's internal investigation.
ANSWER — Strengthen transparency surrounding autopsies and death certification and provide families a meaningful path to answers and legitimate medical-negligence, malpractice and wrongful-death claims.
This is not about blaming healthcare workers for every poor outcome.
Good doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals deserve systems that help them provide safe care—and protection when they speak up about patient-safety concerns in good faith.
This is about recognizing deterioration before it's too late. It's about making sure critical medical information follows the patient. It's about listening when patients and families raise an alarm. And when a serious event occurs, it's about preserving the evidence, independently examining what happened and making sure accountability follows the evidence.
A family shouldn't have to lose someone before discovering the gaps in the system.
Michael served his country.
Now I want his name to serve patients.
Please sign this petition and ask the North Carolina General Assembly to introduce, sponsor and consider Michael Kelleher’s Law.
🇺🇸 His final hours cannot be changed. The next patient's can.
HELP GET MICHAEL’S LAW TO RALEIGH
Signing this petition is the first step. If you would also like to help us build the public and legislative support needed to move Michael’s Law forward in North Carolina, you can support the campaign here:
❤️ Support Michael’s Law:
https://gofund.me/2c077a6a5
Funds will support advocacy, community outreach, educational materials, meetings with lawmakers, travel to Raleigh, printing, campaign expenses, and other efforts to build support for Michael’s Law.
Sign. Share. Support. Help make Michael’s Law his legacy.
MONITOR • ESCALATE • LISTEN • CONNECT • PRESERVE • INVESTIGATE • ANSWER
56
The Issue
My grandfather, Michael Kelleher, was a U.S. Veteran.
His final hospitalization left our family with serious questions about monitoring, deterioration, communication and accountability—questions no family should have to ask after losing someone they love.
I cannot change his final hours. But I can fight to change what happens to the next patient.
I am asking the North Carolina General Assembly to introduce and sponsor Michael Kelleher’s Law — No Patient Left Unmonitored, proposed patient-safety legislation designed to strengthen protections for medically complex, critically ill and deteriorating hospital patients.
Michael Kelleher’s Law would establish seven core protections:
MONITOR — Clear criteria for appropriate monitoring—including oxygen saturation, heart/cardiac and blood-pressure monitoring—when a patient's condition or warning signs require it.
ESCALATE — Stronger sepsis and deterioration protocols, including objective criteria for documented ICU/step-down evaluation when medically complex or high-risk patients worsen.
LISTEN — A clear pathway for patients and authorized family representatives to request urgent reassessment, with a documented clinical response when serious concerns are raised.
CONNECT — Create a standardized Patient Medical Cover Page and strengthen communication of critical health information between hospitals, established primary-care physicians and designated treating providers during qualifying high-risk admissions, deterioration, transfers and discharge.
PRESERVE — Protect critical medical records, monitoring/alarm data, orders, assessments, relevant communications and electronic audit trails following qualifying unexpected hospital deaths.
INVESTIGATE — Require qualifying serious patient-safety events to receive conflict-free independent external review in addition to the hospital's internal investigation.
ANSWER — Strengthen transparency surrounding autopsies and death certification and provide families a meaningful path to answers and legitimate medical-negligence, malpractice and wrongful-death claims.
This is not about blaming healthcare workers for every poor outcome.
Good doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals deserve systems that help them provide safe care—and protection when they speak up about patient-safety concerns in good faith.
This is about recognizing deterioration before it's too late. It's about making sure critical medical information follows the patient. It's about listening when patients and families raise an alarm. And when a serious event occurs, it's about preserving the evidence, independently examining what happened and making sure accountability follows the evidence.
A family shouldn't have to lose someone before discovering the gaps in the system.
Michael served his country.
Now I want his name to serve patients.
Please sign this petition and ask the North Carolina General Assembly to introduce, sponsor and consider Michael Kelleher’s Law.
🇺🇸 His final hours cannot be changed. The next patient's can.
HELP GET MICHAEL’S LAW TO RALEIGH
Signing this petition is the first step. If you would also like to help us build the public and legislative support needed to move Michael’s Law forward in North Carolina, you can support the campaign here:
❤️ Support Michael’s Law:
https://gofund.me/2c077a6a5
Funds will support advocacy, community outreach, educational materials, meetings with lawmakers, travel to Raleigh, printing, campaign expenses, and other efforts to build support for Michael’s Law.
Sign. Share. Support. Help make Michael’s Law his legacy.
MONITOR • ESCALATE • LISTEN • CONNECT • PRESERVE • INVESTIGATE • ANSWER
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Petition created on September 8, 2026