PITTSBURGH, PA — It’s safe to say the IHealth Clinic in the city’s East Liberty neighborhood doesn’t follow the business model of most health care facilities.

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It has no staff except for the lone doctor who opened the clinic in August. Patients play a flat $35 fee up front for the treatment they need. The clinic does not accept health insurance.

The clinic is the brainchild of primary care physician Dr. Timothy Wong, until recently a doctor at Indiana Regional Medical Center in Indiana County. Wong grew frustrated over the lengthy battles he would have with insurance companies over patient care and decided to go off on his own.

“After about 4-1/2 years of dealing with some of the insanity of the system, I was like, ‘You know what? It is not ethical, in my opinion, to be a part of a system that was failing,'” Wong recently told WESA-FM radio .”I felt kind of emotionally drained and physically drained.”

Wong’s medical philosophy is stated on the IHealth Clinic website: Health care needs to be simple, health care needs to be about the patient and the doctor, and heath care needs to be accessible.

Wong treats allergies, colds, cuts, flu, infections, rashes, sprains and strains, as well as chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

IHealth Clinic has a supply of generic medications available for patients that Wong says can enable patients to save on average more than 50 percent compared to GoodRX.com. The clinic also has partnered with companies to provide what Wong contends is the most inexpensive medical testing possible.

In addition to patients having the advantage of not having to worry about co-pays or deductibles, the IHealth Clinic offers the convenience of an urgent care provider. No appointment is necessary.