diff --git a/src/backend/app.py b/src/backend/app.py
index ab65affdc..14d5137c7 100644
--- a/src/backend/app.py
+++ b/src/backend/app.py
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
-# app.py
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import os
+import sys
+
+# Add the parent directory (the one that contains the "src" folder) to sys.path.
+# This allows absolute imports such as "from src.backend.middleware.health_check" to work
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "..")))
 import asyncio
 import logging
-import os
 import uuid
 from typing import List, Optional
 from src.backend.middleware.health_check import HealthCheckMiddleware