Implications of new public management (NPM) have been studied from several theoretical perspectives. This paper argues that there is a missing dimension to the theoretical debate regarding NPM reform: that of time and space. To fill this gap, this paper describes two different timespace logicsthe paradigm of speed (used in finance and manufacturing) and the paradigm of closeness (used in health care/care-giving practices). The paper argues that most NPM programs assume a timespace paradigm of speed, but that NPM is often applied to practices institutionalized by closeness. The paper offers two contributions to existing knowledge. First, the use of timespace paradigms in studies of public-sector reform adds to the arsenal of theoretical tools for the analysis of NPM reform. Secondly, the study presents an analysis of an NPM-reform program in geriatric carea context in which ideas of speed clash with the traditional practice of closeness.