Steven B. Bender, Esq.

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer

Steven Bender, Esq. is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Henry Ford Heath. Steve is responsible for the organization’s legal affairs, including providing legal guidance to the Board of Directors and the executive leadership team, as well as guiding the company in regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Henry Ford Health, Steve was the Geisinger’s EVP, Chief Legal Officer, where he had similar responsibilities for the Danville, PA based enterprise. Geisinger is an integrated delivery system comprising 10 hospitals, a 650,000-member health plan, and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. Steve served as lead counsel in the recent sale of Geisinger to Risant Health, a newly formed nonprofit of Kaiser Permanente.

Previously, Steve was the General Counsel for George Washington University and its medical faculty, which is based in Washington, D.C., and is a nationally recognized faculty practice plan. Steve was also a partner at the Health Law Partners, a boutique health law practice based in Southfield, Michigan, and was managing counsel at Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan, for more than a decade.

Steve earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his law degree from the Detroit College of Law. He is past chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Healthcare Law Section and a member of the American Health Lawyers Association.