‘Riverside Pediatrics’ Opens on Vitti Street

Daughter of a cardiothoracic surgeon and a nurse, Dr. Karen Beckman thought early on that her career in medicine might lead to a specialty in psychiatry. 

The Guilford native double-majored in Spanish and psychology at Tufts University, and went on to enter Tufts University School of Medicine. In her third year there, Beckman began to try different fields and “loved OBGYN,” she recalled Tuesday. “I loved delivering babies, I loved working with young moms, and with babies, and I just thought the whole thing was fascinating. And then I did my pediatrics rotation and I loved the kids. I just thought they were so fun and with the job, you are working a lot of hours, it can be a grind when you are a resident because you are working 100 hours and getting no sleep—and I found that I didn’t mind it when I was working with kids.

‘Riverside Pediatrics’ To Open on Vitti Street

The town last week received an application to fit out a new Vitti Street mixed-used building for a pediatrics group. 

The 20-room fit-out at 23 Vitti St. is for Riverside Pediatrics LLC, according to a building permit application received filed July 1 with the New Canaan Building Department. The work will include new partitions and doors, new finishes of ceiling and walls and the addition of two half-bathrooms, according to the application. Responding to an email from NewCanaanite.com, officials at Riverside Pediatrics say they’re planning to open here in September. The work will cost $175,000, the application said. The contractor on the job is Monroe-based Merritt Construction, the architect Crosskey Architects LLC of Hartford, it said.