diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
index 83cc8d2..19420f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-and-deploy.yml
@@ -14,8 +14,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Start Docker Compose
-        run: docker compose up -d
+      - name: Docker Build
+        run: docker compose build
 
-      - name: Check /health endpoint returns 200
-        run: curl -fs http://localhost:8080/health
+      - name: Start Docker Compose
+        # start the docker contianer and wait 10 sec for container to be healty
+        run: docker compose up -d --wait --wait-timeout 10
+      
+      - name: Show Docker logs (on failure)
+        if: failure()
+        run: docker compose logs
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index c899239..7b706e4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ COPY static ./static
 COPY templates ./templates
 COPY backend ./backend
 RUN pip install -r backend/requirements.txt
+RUN apt-get -y update; apt-get -y install curl
 EXPOSE 8080/tcp
 ENV ENV_NAME=PROD
 ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 64769a3..8f82467 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -3,3 +3,9 @@ services:
     build: .
     ports:
       - "8080:8080"
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
+      interval: 3s
+      timeout: 10s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 2s