diff --git a/internal/relay/source_pool.go b/internal/relay/source_pool.go
index f2fcb81..c11459d 100644
--- a/internal/relay/source_pool.go
+++ b/internal/relay/source_pool.go
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ type Server struct {
 	// based on a threshold. If a server is unhealthy, the weight is marked as -1.
 	Weight int64
 
+	Healthy bool
+
 	// This is only set when a new live Kafka consumer connection is established
 	// on demand via Get(), where a server{} is returned. Internally, no connections
 	// are maintained on SourcePool.[]servers and only the config, weight etc.
@@ -72,7 +74,6 @@ type SourcePool struct {
 
 const (
 	unhealthyWeight int64 = -1
-	unhealthyID     int   = -1
 )
 
 var (
@@ -81,14 +82,15 @@ var (
 
 // NewSourcePool returns a controller instance that manages the lifecycle of a pool of N source (consumer)
 // servers. The pool always attempts to find one healthy node for the relay to consume from.
-func NewSourcePool(cfg SourcePoolCfg, serverCfgs []ConsumerGroupCfg, of map[string]map[int32]kgo.Offset, topics map[string]Topic, log *slog.Logger) (*SourcePool, error) {
+func NewSourcePool(cfg SourcePoolCfg, serverCfgs []ConsumerGroupCfg, topics map[string]Topic, log *slog.Logger) (*SourcePool, error) {
 	servers := make([]Server, 0, len(serverCfgs))
 	// Initially mark all nodes as unhealthy
 	for n, c := range serverCfgs {
 		servers = append(servers, Server{
-			ID:     n,
-			Weight: unhealthyWeight,
-			Config: c,
+			ID:      n,
+			Weight:  unhealthyWeight,
+			Healthy: false,
+			Config:  c,
 		})
 	}
 
@@ -97,6 +99,15 @@ func NewSourcePool(cfg SourcePoolCfg, serverCfgs []ConsumerGroupCfg, of map[stri
 		cfg.Topics = append(cfg.Topics, t)
 	}
 
+	return &SourcePool{
+		cfg:       cfg,
+		servers:   servers,
+		log:       log,
+		backoffFn: getBackoffFn(cfg.EnableBackoff, cfg.BackoffMin, cfg.BackoffMax),
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (sp *SourcePool) SetInitialOffsets(of map[string]map[int32]kgo.Offset) {
 	// Assign the current weight as initial target offset.
 	// This is done to resume if target already has messages published from src.
 	var w int64
@@ -106,20 +117,14 @@ func NewSourcePool(cfg SourcePoolCfg, serverCfgs []ConsumerGroupCfg, of map[stri
 		}
 	}
 
-	return &SourcePool{
-		cfg:     cfg,
-		servers: servers,
-		offsets: of,
-
-		// Set the current candidate with initial weight and a placeholder ID. A real
-		// healthy node should replace this via background checks
-		curCandidate: Server{
-			ID:     unhealthyID,
-			Weight: w,
-		},
-		backoffFn: getBackoffFn(cfg.EnableBackoff, cfg.BackoffMin, cfg.BackoffMax),
-		log:       log,
-	}, nil
+	sp.offsets = of
+	// Set the current candidate with initial weight and a placeholder ID. This initial
+	// weight ensures we resume consuming from where last left off. A real
+	// healthy node should replace this via background checks
+	sp.curCandidate = Server{
+		Healthy: false,
+		Weight:  w,
+	}
 }
 
 // Get attempts return a healthy source Kafka client connection.
@@ -467,7 +472,7 @@ func (sp *SourcePool) getCurCandidate() (Server, error) {
 
 	// If the weight (sum of all high watermarks of all topics on the source) is -1,
 	// the server is unhealthy.
-	if sp.curCandidate.Weight == unhealthyWeight || sp.curCandidate.ID == unhealthyID {
+	if sp.curCandidate.Weight == unhealthyWeight || !sp.curCandidate.Healthy {
 		return sp.curCandidate, ErrorNoHealthy
 	}
 
@@ -486,6 +491,9 @@ func (sp *SourcePool) setWeight(id int, weight int64) {
 		}
 
 		s.Weight = weight
+		if s.Weight != unhealthyWeight {
+			s.Healthy = true
+		}
 
 		// If the incoming server's weight is greater than the current candidate,
 		// promote that to the current candidate.
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 1cbce3e..cb875d3 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -64,11 +64,13 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	// Initialize the source Kafka (consumer) relay.
-	srcPool, err := relay.NewSourcePool(initSourcePoolConfig(ko), consumerCfgs, hOf.KOffsets(), topics, lo)
+	srcPool, err := relay.NewSourcePool(initSourcePoolConfig(ko), consumerCfgs, topics, lo)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("error initializing source pool controller: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	srcPool.SetInitialOffsets(hOf.KOffsets())
+
 	// Initialize the Relay which orchestrates consumption from the sourcePool
 	// and writing to the target pool.
 	relay, err := relay.NewRelay(initRelayConfig(ko), srcPool, target, topics, filters, lo)