diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8d405c49..1de7d47c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -134,11 +134,11 @@ logs: ## display all services logs (follow mode)
 .PHONY: logs
 
 start: ## start all development services
-	@$(COMPOSE) up --force-recreate --build -d frontend-dev backend-dev celery-dev mta-in
+	@$(COMPOSE) up --force-recreate --build -d frontend-dev backend-dev celery-dev mta-in --wait
 .PHONY: start
 
 start-minimal: ## start minimal services (backend, frontend, keycloak and DB)
-	@$(COMPOSE) up --force-recreate --build -d backend-db frontend-dev keycloak
+	@$(COMPOSE) up --force-recreate --build -d backend-db frontend-dev keycloak --wait
 .PHONY: start-minimal
 
 status: ## an alias for "docker compose ps"
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ status: ## an alias for "docker compose ps"
 .PHONY: status
 
 stop: ## stop all development services
-	@$(COMPOSE) stop
+	@$(COMPOSE) --profile "*" stop
 .PHONY: stop
 
 restart: ## restart all development services
diff --git a/bin/update_openapi_schema b/bin/update_openapi_schema
index 46798cd4..139cd790 100755
--- a/bin/update_openapi_schema
+++ b/bin/update_openapi_schema
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/_config.sh"
 
 _dc_run \
     -e DJANGO_CONFIGURATION=Test \
-    -e DJANGO_ENABLE_DOCKERFLOW=0 \
     --no-deps \
     backend-dev \
     python manage.py spectacular \
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index 7ad00617..14a54adc 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ services:
     ports:
       - "8912:5432"
     healthcheck:
-      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready"]
+      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U $$POSTGRES_USER -d $$POSTGRES_DB"]
       interval: 1s
       timeout: 2s
       retries: 300
@@ -100,6 +100,11 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./src/backend:/app
       - ./data/static:/data/static
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "python", "-c", "import urllib.request as u; u.urlopen('http://localhost:8000/healthz/', timeout=1)"]
+      interval: 3s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
     depends_on:
       postgresql:
         condition: service_healthy
@@ -135,11 +140,16 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - ./src/backend:/app
       - ./data/static:/data/static
+    healthcheck:
+      test: ["CMD", "python", "-c", "import urllib.request as u; u.urlopen('http://localhost:8000/healthz/', timeout=1)"]
+      interval: 3s
+      retries: 3
+      start_period: 10s
     depends_on:
       postgresql:
         condition: service_healthy
         restart: true
-  
+
   backend-poetry:
     profiles:
       - tools
diff --git a/src/backend/messages/settings.py b/src/backend/messages/settings.py
index 7717dcfd..f548cefe 100755
--- a/src/backend/messages/settings.py
+++ b/src/backend/messages/settings.py
@@ -547,8 +547,6 @@ class Base(Configuration):
         environ_prefix=None,
     )
 
-    ENABLE_DOCKERFLOW = values.BooleanValue(default=True)
-
     # AI
     AI_API_KEY = values.Value(None, environ_name="AI_API_KEY", environ_prefix=None)
     AI_BASE_URL = values.Value(None, environ_name="AI_BASE_URL", environ_prefix=None)
@@ -618,14 +616,6 @@ class Base(Configuration):
         "api_url": "/api/v1.0",
     }
 
-    # pylint: disable=invalid-name
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-        # Add dockerflow if ENABLE_DOCKERFLOW is True
-        if self.ENABLE_DOCKERFLOW:
-            self.INSTALLED_APPS += ["dockerflow.django"]
-            self.MIDDLEWARE += ["dockerflow.django.middleware.DockerflowMiddleware"]
-
     # pylint: disable=invalid-name
     @property
     def ENVIRONMENT(self):
diff --git a/src/backend/messages/urls.py b/src/backend/messages/urls.py
index 9eff2415..4b6dc558 100644
--- a/src/backend/messages/urls.py
+++ b/src/backend/messages/urls.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.conf.urls.static import static
 from django.contrib import admin
 from django.contrib.staticfiles.urls import staticfiles_urlpatterns
+from django.http import HttpResponse
 from django.urls import include, path, re_path
 
 from drf_spectacular.views import (
@@ -15,6 +16,11 @@ from drf_spectacular.views import (
 urlpatterns = [
     path(settings.ADMIN_URL, admin.site.urls),
     path("", include("core.urls")),
+    path(
+        "healthz/",
+        lambda _: HttpResponse("OK"),
+        name="healthcheck",
+    ),
 ]
 
 if settings.DEBUG:
diff --git a/src/backend/messages/wsgi.py b/src/backend/messages/wsgi.py
index 563fafe3..74218621 100644
--- a/src/backend/messages/wsgi.py
+++ b/src/backend/messages/wsgi.py
@@ -11,6 +11,21 @@ import os
 
 from configurations.wsgi import get_wsgi_application
 
+# pylint: disable=all
+# Suppress access logs for healthcheck route
+try:
+    import django.core.servers.basehttp
+    class QuietWSGIRequestHandler(django.core.servers.basehttp.WSGIRequestHandler):
+        def log_message(self, format, *args):
+            path = getattr(self, "path", "")
+            if path.strip("/") == "healthz":
+                return
+            super().log_message(format, *args)
+    django.core.servers.basehttp.WSGIRequestHandler = QuietWSGIRequestHandler
+except ImportError:
+    pass
+# pylint: enable=all
+
 os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE", "messages.settings")
 os.environ.setdefault("DJANGO_CONFIGURATION", "Development")
 
diff --git a/src/backend/poetry.lock b/src/backend/poetry.lock
index 35254c41..6fedac0e 100644
--- a/src/backend/poetry.lock
+++ b/src/backend/poetry.lock
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 2.1.3 and should not be changed by hand.
+# This file is automatically @generated by Poetry 2.1.4 and should not be changed by hand.
 
 [[package]]
 name = "aiofiles"
@@ -1102,24 +1102,6 @@ idna = ["idna (>=3.7)"]
 trio = ["trio (>=0.23)"]
 wmi = ["wmi (>=1.5.1)"]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "dockerflow"
-version = "2024.4.2"
-description = "Python tools and helpers for Mozilla's Dockerflow"
-optional = false
-python-versions = "<4,>=3.7"
-groups = ["main"]
-files = [
-    {file = "dockerflow-2024.4.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:b9f92455449ba46555f57db34cccefc4c49d3533c67793624ab7e80a1625caa7"},
-    {file = "dockerflow-2024.4.2.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:f4216a3a809093860d7b2db84ba0a25c894cb8eb98b74f4f6a04badbc4f6b0a4"},
-]
-
-[package.extras]
-django = ["django"]
-fastapi = ["asgiref", "fastapi"]
-flask = ["blinker", "flask"]
-sanic = ["sanic"]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "drf-spectacular"
 version = "0.28.0"
@@ -3578,4 +3560,4 @@ dev = ["django-extensions", "drf-spectacular-sidecar", "flower", "pip-audit", "p
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.1"
 python-versions = ">=3.13,<4.0"
-content-hash = "22260b6b6ae4581ad82aaa98baf1b138d2cf63b0f2a7e101be56b2b72d8768a4"
+content-hash = "a9c4fa07cc7fb32814d33932d885c48f715939de2f09eaae42fca64457cdbc81"
diff --git a/src/backend/pyproject.toml b/src/backend/pyproject.toml
index 083a7b0c..e79784ad 100644
--- a/src/backend/pyproject.toml
+++ b/src/backend/pyproject.toml
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "djangorestframework==3.15.2",
     "dkimpy==1.1.8",
     "dnspython==2.7.0",
-    "dockerflow==2024.4.2",
     "drf_spectacular==0.28.0",
     "opensearch-py==2.8.0",
     "factory_boy==3.3.1",