diff --git a/APISpecification.yaml b/APISpecification.yaml
index b763acb..859e21f 100644
--- a/APISpecification.yaml
+++ b/APISpecification.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,35 @@ tags:
   - name: api
     description: Ensembl Web Metadata API
 paths:
+  /grpc_status:
+    get:
+      summary: Check gRPC Server or Service Health
+      description: |
+        - If `service_name` is not provided, it checks the overall gRPC server health.
+        - If `service_name` is provided, it checks that specific service (e.g. `EnsemblMetadata`).
+      parameters:
+        - name: service_name
+          in: query
+          required: false
+          schema:
+            type: string
+          description: The specific gRPC service name to check (leave empty for global health check).
+      responses:
+        200:
+          description: gRPC service is running and healthy.
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  status:
+                    type: integer
+                    example: 1
+                  code:
+                    type: string
+                    example: "OK"
+        503:
+          '$ref': '#/components/responses/503ServiceUnavailable'
   /api/metadata/genome/{genome_id_or_slug}/explain:
     get:
       description: Satisfies client's need to disambiguate a string that is part of url pathname
@@ -1006,6 +1035,19 @@ components:
           schema:
             type: string
             example: '{"status_code": 404, "details": "Not Found"}'
+    503ServiceUnavailable:
+      description: gRPC service is unavailable.
+      content:
+        application/json:
+          schema:
+            type: object
+            properties:
+              status:
+                type: integer
+                example: 0
+              code:
+                type: string
+                example: "UNAVAILABLE"
     500InternalServerError:
       description: Internal server error
       content:
diff --git a/app/api/resources/grpc_client.py b/app/api/resources/grpc_client.py
index 83c7eae..533206b 100644
--- a/app/api/resources/grpc_client.py
+++ b/app/api/resources/grpc_client.py
@@ -15,24 +15,54 @@
 import logging
 import grpc
 from google.protobuf.json_format import MessageToDict
+from grpc_health.v1 import health_pb2_grpc, health_pb2
 from yagrc import reflector as yagrc_reflector
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 class GRPCClient:
     def __init__(self, host: str, port: int):
+        self.grpc_server_address = f"{host}:{port}"
         # Create Channel
-        channel = grpc.insecure_channel(
-            "{}:{}".format(host, port),
+        self.channel = grpc.insecure_channel(
+            self.grpc_server_address,
             options=(("grpc.enable_http_proxy", 0),),
         )
+        self.health_stub = health_pb2_grpc.HealthStub(self.channel)
+
+        self.stub = None  # Default stub (will be set only if gRPC is available)
         self.reflector = yagrc_reflector.GrpcReflectionClient()
-        self.reflector.load_protocols(
-            channel, symbols=["ensembl_metadata.EnsemblMetadata"]
-        )
-        stub_class = self.reflector.service_stub_class(
-            "ensembl_metadata.EnsemblMetadata"
-        )
-        self.stub = stub_class(channel)
+
+        try:
+            # Attempt to load gRPC reflection protocols
+            self.reflector.load_protocols(
+                self.channel, symbols=["ensembl_metadata.EnsemblMetadata"]
+            )
+            stub_class = self.reflector.service_stub_class("ensembl_metadata.EnsemblMetadata")
+            self.stub = stub_class(self.channel)  # Assign stub only if reflection succeeds
+            logger.info("gRPC reflection loaded successfully.")
+        except grpc.RpcError as e:
+            logger.warning(f"Failed to connect to gRPC service at {self.grpc_server_address}. "
+                           f"Reflection unavailable. Error: {e.details()}")
+
+
+    def get_grpc_status(self, service_name: str = ""):
+        """
+        Checks the health of the gRPC server or a specific service.
+
+        Parameters:
+            service_name (str): Name of the gRPC service to check. Empty string `""` checks the entire server.
+
+        Returns:
+            dict: {"status": "SERVING" or "NOT_SERVING", "code": "<gRPC Code>"}
+        """
+        request = health_pb2.HealthCheckRequest(service=service_name)
+        try:
+            response = self.health_stub.Check(request)
+            return {"status": response.status, "code": "OK"}
+        except grpc.RpcError as e:
+            return {"status": 0, "code": str(e.code().name)}  # Handle errors gracefully
+
 
     def get_statistics(self, genome_uuid: str):
         """Returns gRPC message containing statistics for given genome_uuid.
diff --git a/app/api/resources/metadata.py b/app/api/resources/metadata.py
index b34e1bb..bfed59a 100644
--- a/app/api/resources/metadata.py
+++ b/app/api/resources/metadata.py
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 """
 import json
 import logging
-from typing import Annotated
+from typing import Annotated, Optional
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Request, responses, Query
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
 from pydantic import ValidationError
 
 from api.error_response import response_error_handler
@@ -45,6 +46,22 @@
 logging.info("Connecting to gRPC server on " + GRPC_HOST + ":" + str(GRPC_PORT))
 grpc_client = GRPCClient(GRPC_HOST, GRPC_PORT)
 
+@router.get("/grpc_status", summary="Check gRPC Server or Service Health")
+async def service_health_check(service_name: Optional[str] = None):
+    """
+    HTTP endpoint to check the health status of the entire gRPC server or a specific service.
+
+    - If `service_name` is not provided, it checks the global health.
+    - If `service_name` is provided, it checks that specific service (e.g. `EnsemblMetadata`).
+    """
+    # return grpc_client.get_grpc_status(service_name or "")
+    result = grpc_client.get_grpc_status(service_name or "")
+
+    if result["code"] == "OK":
+        return result
+
+    # if gRPC is down, return JSON response with HTTP 503
+    return JSONResponse(content=result, status_code=503)
 
 @router.get("/genome/{genome_uuid}/stats", name="statistics")
 async def get_metadata_statistics(request: Request, genome_uuid: str):
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9b47f6a..d79e47e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ click==8.1.7
 exceptiongroup==1.2.0
 fastapi==0.103.1
 grpcio==1.60.0
+grpcio-health-checking==1.60.0
 grpcio-tools==1.60.0
 h11==0.14.0
 idna==3.6