The Montana State Board of Public Institutions was established in 1963 as the official administrator of nine Montana state institutions providing care and rehabilitation to state residents requiring institutional care. The institutions governed at the time the board was established included: the Montana Children's Center, the State Soldier's Home (Montana Veterans Home), the State Hospital (Warm Springs State Hospital), the State Training School and Hospital (Boulder River School and Hospital), the State Industrial School for Boys (Pine Hills School), the State Vocational School for Girls (Mountain View School), Montana State Tuberculosis Sanitarium (Galen State Hospital), the State Prison, and the Montana Center for the Aged. Members of the board were appointed by the governor, and Dr. H.T. Caraway, M.D. was elected as it's first chairman. The establishment of this board led to the replacement of governor-appointed local Advisory Boards for the separate institutions, with boards appointed locally by the institutions themselves. The board was later known as the Board of Institutions of the Department of Public Institutions (later known as the Department of Institutions). Included in the minutes are references to additional institutions that were governed by the board in later years. These "new" institutions included: the Eastmont Training Center, the Division of Mental Hygiene, and the Swan River Youth Forest Camp.