This chapter explores the meaning of place for health care governance. Although place is gaining importance in public health studies, it remains under theorized as an analytical concept. As a consequence, place is merely viewed as a context variable or a neutral backdrop for policymaking. This chapter provides a more dynamic reconceptualization of place by looking at the activity of replacing as a means to govern health care. Three different cases of re-placement of care are discussed that show how re-placements work out in practice: e-health, concentration of hospital care and neighbourhood care. The cases reveal not only the invisible work that is necessary to establish and maintain re-placements, but also demonstrate the political and symbolic uses of place for health care governance.
