diff --git a/app/db.py b/app/db.py
index 3046bc5..76e02f1 100644
--- a/app/db.py
+++ b/app/db.py
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 import sys
 from collections.abc import AsyncIterator
+from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
 from typing import Annotated
 
 from fastapi import Depends
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import create_async_engine
 from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
+from sqlmodel import text
 from sqlmodel.ext.asyncio.session import AsyncSession
 
 from app import settings
@@ -25,3 +27,11 @@ async def get_db_session() -> AsyncIterator[AsyncSession]:
 
 
 DBSession = Annotated[AsyncSession, Depends(get_db_session)]
+
+
+async def verify_db_connection():
+    async with asynccontextmanager(get_db_session)() as session:
+        result = await session.exec(text("SELECT 1"))
+
+        if result.one()[0] != 1:
+            raise Exception("Could not verify database connection")
diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index 2a610fe..30815bf 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -1,9 +1,22 @@
+import logging
+from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
+
 import fastapi_pagination
 from fastapi import FastAPI
 
 from app import settings
+from app.db import verify_db_connection
 from app.routers import entitlements
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@asynccontextmanager
+async def lifespan(app: FastAPI):
+    await verify_db_connection()
+    yield
+
+
 tags_metadata = [
     {
         "name": "Entitlements",
@@ -18,6 +31,7 @@
     openapi_tags=tags_metadata,
     root_path="/v1",
     debug=settings.debug,
+    lifespan=lifespan,
 )
 
 fastapi_pagination.add_pagination(app)
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index 3ef70e7..c0009c7 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-networks:
-  docker_network:
-    driver: bridge
-
 services:
   app:
     build:
@@ -9,8 +5,6 @@ services:
       dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
     working_dir: /app
     restart: always
-    networks:
-      - docker_network
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: "service_healthy"
@@ -29,12 +23,8 @@ services:
       POSTGRES_DB: "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_DB}"
       POSTGRES_USER: "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_USER}"
       POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_PASSWORD}"
-      POSTGRES_HOST: "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_HOST}"
-      POSTGRES_PORT: "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_PORT}"
     ports:
       - "${FFC_OPERATIONS_POSTGRES_PORT}:5432"
-    networks:
-      - docker_network
     healthcheck:
       test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready --dbname=$${POSTGRES_DB} --username=$${POSTRGRES_USER}"]
       interval: 10s
@@ -48,8 +38,6 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: "service_healthy"
-    networks:
-      - docker_network
     command: >
       bash -c "
         set -e