The Washington region is home to more than 50 hospitals, six medical schools, and 200,000-plus physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health-care workers.
Here are median salaries for a selection of medical and surgical specialties in the Eastern United States according to the American Medical Group Association. Given Washington’s relative affluence, the salaries probably are higher here.
Anesthesiology, $343,935.
Cardiology, $345,082.
Dermatology, $349,501.
Emergency medicine, $259,778.
Endocrinology, $206,070.
General surgery, $312,427.
Internal medicine, $214,983.
Neurology, $227,601.
Obstetrics/gynecology, $263,817.
Ophthalmology, $308,308.
Orthopedic surgery, $445,921.
Pediatrics, $203,035.
Plastic and reconstructive surgery, $350,343.
Psychiatry, $186,500.
Hospital Administrators
Kenneth A. Samet, president, MedStar Health (Washington Hospital Center, Georgetown University Hospital, National Rehabilitation Hospital, and others), $2,647,227.
Edwin K. Zechman Jr., president, Children’s National Medical Center, $1,987,629.
Robert L. Sloan, president, Sibley Memorial Hospital, $1,821,899.
J. Knox Singleton, CEO, Inova Health System, $1,721,435.
Brian A. Gragnolati, president, Suburban Hospital, $1,495,323.
Larry Warren, CEO, Howard University Hospital, $640,625.
James B. Cole, president, Virginia Hospital Center, $556,942.
Hospital Staff Physicians
William L. Thomas, chief medical officer, MedStar Health, $1,307,944.
Roger J. Packer,neurology, Children’s National Medical Center, $860,382.
Edward Eder, internal medicine, Inova Health System, $197,885.
Sonia Thomas, child and adolescent psychiatry, Inova Health System, $195,994.
John J. Kirkpatrick, surgery chair, Washington Hospital Center, $624,371.
Barry Byer, family practice, Virginia Hospital Center, $445,965.
Robert Mordkin, urology, Virginia Hospital Center, $374, 938.
Orthon Wiltz, colon and rectal surgery, Virginia Hospital Center, $433,554,
James L. Scott, dean, George Washington University School of Medicine, $567,435.
Chiledum Ahaghotu, urology, Howard University Hospital, $431,173.
Blair M. Eig, pediatrics, Holy Cross Hospital, $375,982.
Ann B. Burke, medical director, Women and Infants’ Services, Holy Cross Hospital, $291,502.
Other Health Professionals
Physician assistant, National Institutes of Health, $123,269.
Nurse, Veterans Health Administration, $117,418.
Physical therapist, National Institutes of Health, $74,449.
Retail pharmacist, CVS, $132,000.
This feature first appeared in the November 2010 issue of The Washingtonian.
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
