The recent restructuring of health-care provision has particularly aff
ected rural communities in New Zealand, a nation characterized by an e
merging biculturalism in its policies and outlook. In this article we
develop a framework linking health care, the rural experience of place
and the national cultural fabric. After presenting the stories of two
North Island communities undergoing transition, we consider the role
of health care in influencing the broader health of rural settlements
as communities. We conclude that for communities as well as their resi
dents, health and place are mutually constituted through the activitie
s of health-care provision.