diff --git a/code/utils/deploy-pokedex.js b/code/utils/deploy-pokedex.js
index f228623..71b23f1 100644
--- a/code/utils/deploy-pokedex.js
+++ b/code/utils/deploy-pokedex.js
@@ -162,15 +162,16 @@ function createModifiedDockerCompose(port, sslPort, backendPort) {
  * Perform HTTP health check
  * @param {string} host - Host to check
  * @param {number} port - Port to check
+ * @param {string} path - Path to check (default: /)
  * @param {number} retries - Number of retries
  * @returns {Promise<boolean>} True if healthy
  */
-async function healthCheck(host, port, retries = 5) {
+async function healthCheck(host, port, path = '/', retries = 5) {
   for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
     try {
       await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
         const req = http.get(
-          `http://${host}:${port}`,
+          `http://${host}:${port}${path}`,
           { timeout: 5000 },
           res => {
             if (res.statusCode === 200) {
@@ -250,7 +251,7 @@ async function deployLocal(config) {
     if (!frontendHealthy) throw new Error('Frontend health check failed');
     console.log('  ✅ Frontend healthy');
 
-    console.log('  Checking backend...');
+      const backendHealthy = await healthCheck('localhost', config.backendPort, '/health');
     const backendHealthy = await healthCheck('localhost', config.backendPort);
     // Backend might need more time
     if (!backendHealthy) throw new Error('Backend health check failed');
@@ -624,7 +625,8 @@ async function deploy() {
     console.log('  Checking backend...');
     const backendHealthy = await healthCheck(
       sshConfig.host,
-      config.backendPort
+      config.backendPort,
+      '/health'
     );
     if (!backendHealthy) {
       throw new Error(