diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/921-docker_container-healthy.yml b/changelogs/fragments/921-docker_container-healthy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..007148d26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/921-docker_container-healthy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - "docker_container - the new ``state=healthy`` allows to wait for a container to become healthy on startup.
+     The ``healthy_wait_timeout`` option allows to configure the maximum time to wait for this to happen
+     (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.docker/issues/890, https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.docker/pull/921)."
diff --git a/plugins/module_utils/module_container/module.py b/plugins/module_utils/module_container/module.py
index 5d819efa4..b58ad351a 100644
--- a/plugins/module_utils/module_container/module.py
+++ b/plugins/module_utils/module_container/module.py
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ def __init__(self, module, engine_driver, client, active_options):
         self.param_pull_check_mode_behavior = self.module.params['pull_check_mode_behavior']
         self.param_recreate = self.module.params['recreate']
         self.param_removal_wait_timeout = self.module.params['removal_wait_timeout']
+        self.param_healthy_wait_timeout = self.module.params['healthy_wait_timeout']
+        if self.param_healthy_wait_timeout <= 0:
+            self.param_healthy_wait_timeout = None
         self.param_restart = self.module.params['restart']
         self.param_state = self.module.params['state']
         self._parse_comparisons()
@@ -212,7 +215,7 @@ def fail(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.client.fail(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def run(self):
-        if self.param_state in ('stopped', 'started', 'present'):
+        if self.param_state in ('stopped', 'started', 'present', 'healthy'):
             self.present(self.param_state)
         elif self.param_state == 'absent':
             self.absent()
@@ -227,7 +230,7 @@ def run(self):
         if self.facts:
             self.results['container'] = self.facts
 
-    def wait_for_state(self, container_id, complete_states=None, wait_states=None, accept_removal=False, max_wait=None):
+    def wait_for_state(self, container_id, complete_states=None, wait_states=None, accept_removal=False, max_wait=None, health_state=False):
         delay = 1.0
         total_wait = 0
         while True:
@@ -235,21 +238,24 @@ def wait_for_state(self, container_id, complete_states=None, wait_states=None, a
             result = self.engine_driver.inspect_container_by_id(self.client, container_id)
             if result is None:
                 if accept_removal:
-                    return
+                    return result
                 msg = 'Encontered vanished container while waiting for container "{0}"'
                 self.fail(msg.format(container_id))
             # Check container state
-            state = result.get('State', {}).get('Status')
+            state_info = result.get('State') or {}
+            if health_state:
+                state_info = state_info.get('Health') or {}
+            state = state_info.get('Status')
             if complete_states is not None and state in complete_states:
-                return
+                return result
             if wait_states is not None and state not in wait_states:
                 msg = 'Encontered unexpected state "{1}" while waiting for container "{0}"'
-                self.fail(msg.format(container_id, state))
+                self.fail(msg.format(container_id, state), container=result)
             # Wait
             if max_wait is not None:
-                if total_wait > max_wait:
+                if total_wait > max_wait or delay < 1E-4:
                     msg = 'Timeout of {1} seconds exceeded while waiting for container "{0}"'
-                    self.fail(msg.format(container_id, max_wait))
+                    self.fail(msg.format(container_id, max_wait), container=result)
                 if total_wait + delay > max_wait:
                     delay = max_wait - total_wait
             sleep(delay)
@@ -368,10 +374,10 @@ def present(self, state):
             container = self.update_limits(container, container_image, comparison_image, host_info)
             container = self.update_networks(container, container_created)
 
-            if state == 'started' and not container.running:
+            if state in ('started', 'healthy') and not container.running:
                 self.diff_tracker.add('running', parameter=True, active=was_running)
                 container = self.container_start(container.id)
-            elif state == 'started' and self.param_restart:
+            elif state in ('started', 'healthy') and self.param_restart:
                 self.diff_tracker.add('running', parameter=True, active=was_running)
                 self.diff_tracker.add('restarted', parameter=True, active=False)
                 container = self.container_restart(container.id)
@@ -380,7 +386,7 @@ def present(self, state):
                 self.container_stop(container.id)
                 container = self._get_container(container.id)
 
-            if state == 'started' and self.param_paused is not None and container.paused != self.param_paused:
+            if state in ('started', 'healthy') and self.param_paused is not None and container.paused != self.param_paused:
                 self.diff_tracker.add('paused', parameter=self.param_paused, active=was_paused)
                 if not self.check_mode:
                     try:
@@ -398,6 +404,19 @@ def present(self, state):
 
         self.facts = container.raw
 
+        if state == 'healthy' and not self.check_mode:
+            # `None` means that no health check enabled; simply treat this as 'healthy'
+            inspect_result = self.wait_for_state(
+                container.id,
+                wait_states=['starting', 'unhealthy'],
+                complete_states=['healthy', None],
+                max_wait=self.param_healthy_wait_timeout,
+                health_state=True,
+            )
+            if inspect_result:
+                # Return the latest inspection results retrieved
+                self.facts = inspect_result
+
     def absent(self):
         container = self._get_container(self.param_name)
         if container.exists:
@@ -878,10 +897,11 @@ def run_module(engine_driver):
             recreate=dict(type='bool', default=False),
             removal_wait_timeout=dict(type='float'),
             restart=dict(type='bool', default=False),
-            state=dict(type='str', default='started', choices=['absent', 'present', 'started', 'stopped']),
+            state=dict(type='str', default='started', choices=['absent', 'present', 'healthy', 'started', 'stopped']),
+            healthy_wait_timeout=dict(type='float', default=300),
         ),
         required_if=[
-            ('state', 'present', ['image'])
+            ('state', 'present', ['image']),
         ],
     )
 
diff --git a/plugins/modules/docker_container.py b/plugins/modules/docker_container.py
index 2c3dbd40f..83ead19f6 100644
--- a/plugins/modules/docker_container.py
+++ b/plugins/modules/docker_container.py
@@ -381,6 +381,7 @@
       - "O(healthcheck.interval), O(healthcheck.timeout), O(healthcheck.start_period), and O(healthcheck.start_interval) are specified as durations.
         They accept duration as a string in a format that look like: V(5h34m56s), V(1m30s), and so on.
         The supported units are V(us), V(ms), V(s), V(m) and V(h)."
+      - See also O(state=healthy).
     type: dict
     suboptions:
       test:
@@ -919,6 +920,8 @@
         with the requested config.'
       - 'V(started) - Asserts that the container is first V(present), and then if the container is not running moves it to a running
         state. Use O(restart) to force a matching container to be stopped and restarted.'
+      - V(healthy) - Asserts that the container is V(present) and V(started), and is actually healthy as well.
+        The time waited can be controlled with O(healthy_wait_timeout). This state has been added in community.docker 3.11.0.
       - 'V(stopped) - Asserts that the container is first V(present), and then if the container is running moves it to a stopped
         state.'
       - "To control what will be taken into account when comparing configuration, see the O(comparisons) option. To avoid that the
@@ -932,12 +935,23 @@
     choices:
       - absent
       - present
+      - healthy
       - stopped
       - started
   stop_signal:
     description:
       - Override default signal used to stop the container.
     type: str
+  healthy_wait_timeout:
+    description:
+      - When waiting for the container to become healthy if O(state=healthy), this option controls for how long
+        the module waits until the container's state becomes healthy.
+      - The timeout is specified in seconds. The default, V(300), is 5 minutes.
+      - Set this to 0 or a negative value to wait however long it takes.
+        Note that depending on the container this can result in the module not terminating.
+    default: 300
+    type: float
+    version_added: 3.11.0
   stop_timeout:
     description:
       - Number of seconds to wait for the container to stop before sending C(SIGKILL).
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/docker_container/tasks/tests/healthy.yml b/tests/integration/targets/docker_container/tasks/tests/healthy.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3be7312af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/docker_container/tasks/tests/healthy.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+---
+# Copyright (c) Ansible Project
+# GNU General Public License v3.0+ (see LICENSES/GPL-3.0-or-later.txt or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+
+- name: Registering container name
+  set_fact:
+    cname: "{{ cname_prefix ~ '-hi' }}"
+- name: Registering container name
+  set_fact:
+    cnames: "{{ cnames + [cname] }}"
+
+- name: Prepare container
+  docker_container:
+    name: "{{ cname }}"
+    image: "{{ docker_test_image_healthcheck }}"
+    command: '10m'
+    state: stopped
+  register: healthy_1
+
+- debug: var=healthy_1.container.State
+
+- name: Start container (not healthy in time)
+  docker_container:
+    name: "{{ cname }}"
+    state: healthy
+    healthy_wait_timeout: 1
+  register: healthy_2
+  ignore_errors: true
+
+- debug: var=healthy_2.container.State
+
+- name: Prepare container
+  docker_container:
+    name: "{{ cname }}"
+    image: "{{ docker_test_image_healthcheck }}"
+    command: '10m 5s'
+    state: stopped
+    force_kill: true
+  register: healthy_3
+
+- debug: var=healthy_3.container.State
+
+- name: Start container (healthy in time)
+  docker_container:
+    name: "{{ cname }}"
+    state: healthy
+    healthy_wait_timeout: 10
+  register: healthy_4
+
+- debug: var=healthy_4.container.State
+
+- name: Cleanup
+  docker_container:
+    name: "{{ cname }}"
+    state: absent
+    force_kill: true
+- assert:
+    that:
+      - healthy_2 is failed
+      - healthy_2.container.State.Health.Status == "starting"
+      - healthy_2.msg.startswith("Timeout of 1.0 seconds exceeded while waiting for container ")
+      - healthy_4 is changed
+      - healthy_4.container.State.Health.Status == "healthy"