diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f46b070..7a19ed6 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ The following parameters can be set in config files or in env variables:
 - ELASTICSEARCH_INDEX: the Elasticsearch index to store Kafka messages data, default value is 'submission-index'
 - ELASTICSEARCH_INDEX_TYPE: the Elasticsearch index type name, default value is 'submission'
 
+Also note that there is a `/health` endpoint that checks for the health of the app. This sets up an expressjs server and listens on the environment variable `PORT`. It's not part of the configuration file and needs to be passed as an environment variable
+
 ## Local Kafka setup
 
 - `http://kafka.apache.org/quickstart` contains details to setup and manage Kafka server,
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 34c6639..66be579 100755
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -14,6 +14,15 @@
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@@ -88,6 +97,11 @@
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+        "on-finished": "~2.3.0",
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@@ -475,6 +546,16 @@
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+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/http-errors/-/http-errors-1.6.2.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-CgAsyFcHGSp+eUbO7cERVfYOxzY=",
+          "requires": {
+            "depd": "1.1.1",
+            "inherits": "2.0.3",
+            "setprototypeof": "1.0.3",
+            "statuses": ">= 1.3.1 < 2"
+          }
+        },
+        "iconv-lite": {
+          "version": "0.4.19",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/iconv-lite/-/iconv-lite-0.4.19.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-oTZqweIP51xaGPI4uPa56/Pri/480R+mo7SeU+YETByQNhDG55ycFyNLIgta9vXhILrxXDmF7ZGhqZIcuN0gJQ=="
+        },
+        "setprototypeof": {
+          "version": "1.0.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/setprototypeof/-/setprototypeof-1.0.3.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha1-ZlZ+NwQ+608E2RvWWMDL77VbjgQ="
+        }
+      }
+    },
     "read-pkg": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/read-pkg/-/read-pkg-2.0.0.tgz",
@@ -1950,8 +2261,7 @@
     "safe-buffer": {
       "version": "5.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/safe-buffer/-/safe-buffer-5.1.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-kKvNJn6Mm93gAczWVJg7wH+wGYWNrDHdWvpUmHyEsgCtIwwo3bqPtV4tR5tuPaUhTOo/kvhVwd8XwwOllGYkbg==",
-      "dev": true
+      "integrity": "sha512-kKvNJn6Mm93gAczWVJg7wH+wGYWNrDHdWvpUmHyEsgCtIwwo3bqPtV4tR5tuPaUhTOo/kvhVwd8XwwOllGYkbg=="
     },
     "safer-buffer": {
       "version": "2.1.2",
@@ -1965,6 +2275,52 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-4SJ3dm0WAwWy/NVeioZh5AntkdJoWKxHxcmyP622fOkgHa4z3R0TdBJICINyaSDE6uNwVc8gZr+ZinwZAH4xIA==",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "send": {
+      "version": "0.16.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/send/-/send-0.16.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-E64YFPUssFHEFBvpbbjr44NCLtI1AohxQ8ZSiJjQLskAdKuriYEP6VyGEsRDH8ScozGpkaX1BGvhanqCwkcEZw==",
+      "requires": {
+        "debug": "2.6.9",
+        "depd": "~1.1.2",
+        "destroy": "~1.0.4",
+        "encodeurl": "~1.0.2",
+        "escape-html": "~1.0.3",
+        "etag": "~1.8.1",
+        "fresh": "0.5.2",
+        "http-errors": "~1.6.2",
+        "mime": "1.4.1",
+        "ms": "2.0.0",
+        "on-finished": "~2.3.0",
+        "range-parser": "~1.2.0",
+        "statuses": "~1.4.0"
+      },
+      "dependencies": {
+        "debug": {
+          "version": "2.6.9",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/debug/-/debug-2.6.9.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-bC7ElrdJaJnPbAP+1EotYvqZsb3ecl5wi6Bfi6BJTUcNowp6cvspg0jXznRTKDjm/E7AdgFBVeAPVMNcKGsHMA==",
+          "requires": {
+            "ms": "2.0.0"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "serve-static": {
+      "version": "1.13.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/serve-static/-/serve-static-1.13.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-p/tdJrO4U387R9oMjb1oj7qSMaMfmOyd4j9hOFoxZe2baQszgHcSWjuya/CiT5kgZZKRudHNOA0pYXOl8rQ5nw==",
+      "requires": {
+        "encodeurl": "~1.0.2",
+        "escape-html": "~1.0.3",
+        "parseurl": "~1.3.2",
+        "send": "0.16.2"
+      }
+    },
+    "setprototypeof": {
+      "version": "1.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/setprototypeof/-/setprototypeof-1.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-BvE/TwpZX4FXExxOxZyRGQQv651MSwmWKZGqvmPcRIjDqWub67kTKuIMx43cZZrS/cBBzwBcNDWoFxt2XEFIpQ=="
+    },
     "shebang-command": {
       "version": "1.2.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/shebang-command/-/shebang-command-1.2.0.tgz",
@@ -2080,6 +2436,11 @@
         }
       }
     },
+    "statuses": {
+      "version": "1.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/statuses/-/statuses-1.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-zhSCtt8v2NDrRlPQpCNtw/heZLtfUDqxBM1udqikb/Hbk52LK4nQSwr10u77iopCW5LsyHpuXS0GnEc48mLeew=="
+    },
     "string-width": {
       "version": "2.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/string-width/-/string-width-2.1.1.tgz",
@@ -2168,6 +2529,14 @@
         "os-tmpdir": "~1.0.2"
       }
     },
+    "topcoder-healthcheck-dropin": {
+      "version": "1.0.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/topcoder-healthcheck-dropin/-/topcoder-healthcheck-dropin-1.0.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-KvXTu0bIokVxu+Q4lfKWqYHzEwPiYJ0y0AhP9EIpqTXfADICyUsgEbokDNDRf+qaTD0b/cCNCfVVU+7oeNYVjQ==",
+      "requires": {
+        "express": "^4.16.3"
+      }
+    },
     "topo": {
       "version": "2.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/topo/-/topo-2.0.2.tgz",
@@ -2191,6 +2560,15 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-0fr/mIH1dlO+x7TlcMy+bIDqKPsw/70tVyeHW787goQjhmqaZe10uwLujubK9q9Lg6Fiho1KUKDYz0Z7k7g5/g==",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "type-is": {
+      "version": "1.6.16",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/type-is/-/type-is-1.6.16.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-HRkVv/5qY2G6I8iab9cI7v1bOIdhm94dVjQCPFElW9W+3GeDOSHmy2EBYe4VTApuzolPcmgFTN3ftVJRKR2J9Q==",
+      "requires": {
+        "media-typer": "0.3.0",
+        "mime-types": "~2.1.18"
+      }
+    },
     "typedarray": {
       "version": "0.0.6",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/typedarray/-/typedarray-0.0.6.tgz",
@@ -2203,12 +2581,22 @@
       "integrity": "sha1-sxxa6CVIRKOoKBVBzisEuGWnNP8=",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "unpipe": {
+      "version": "1.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/unpipe/-/unpipe-1.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-sr9O6FFKrmFltIF4KdIbLvSZBOw="
+    },
     "util-deprecate": {
       "version": "1.0.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/util-deprecate/-/util-deprecate-1.0.2.tgz",
       "integrity": "sha1-RQ1Nyfpw3nMnYvvS1KKJgUGaDM8=",
       "dev": true
     },
+    "utils-merge": {
+      "version": "1.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/utils-merge/-/utils-merge-1.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-n5VxD1CiZ5R7LMwSR0HBAoQn5xM="
+    },
     "uuid": {
       "version": "3.3.2",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/uuid/-/uuid-3.3.2.tgz",
@@ -2225,6 +2613,11 @@
         "spdx-expression-parse": "^3.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "vary": {
+      "version": "1.1.2",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/vary/-/vary-1.1.2.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha1-IpnwLG3tMNSllhsLn3RSShj2NPw="
+    },
     "which": {
       "version": "1.3.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/which/-/which-1.3.1.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0f44782..50d4448 100755
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     "joi": "^9.0.4",
     "lodash": "^4.17.10",
     "no-kafka": "^3.2.4",
+    "topcoder-healthcheck-dropin": "^1.0.2",
     "winston": "^2.2.0"
   },
   "engines": {
diff --git a/src/app.js b/src/app.js
index fcf16dc..d2c1a37 100755
--- a/src/app.js
+++ b/src/app.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const logger = require('./common/logger')
 const Kafka = require('no-kafka')
 const co = require('co')
 const ProcessorService = require('./services/ProcessorService')
+const healthcheck = require('topcoder-healthcheck-dropin')
 
 // create consumer
 const options = { connectionString: config.KAFKA_URL }
@@ -56,10 +57,25 @@ const dataHandler = (messageSet, topic, partition) => Promise.each(messageSet, (
     .catch((err) => logger.error(err))
 })
 
+// check if there is kafka connection alive
+function check () {
+  if (!consumer.client.initialBrokers && !consumer.client.initialBrokers.length) {
+    return false
+  }
+  let connected = true
+  consumer.client.initialBrokers.forEach(conn => {
+    logger.debug(`url ${conn.server()} - connected=${conn.connected}`)
+    connected = conn.connected & connected
+  })
+  return connected
+}
+
 consumer
   .init()
   // consume configured topics
   .then(() => {
+    healthcheck.init([check])
+
     const topics = [config.CREATE_DATA_TOPIC, config.UPDATE_DATA_TOPIC, config.DELETE_DATA_TOPIC]
     _.each(topics, (tp) => consumer.subscribe(tp, { time: Kafka.LATEST_OFFSET }, dataHandler))
   })