The shocking and incomprehensively tragic murder of Dr. Ben Mauck, a talented and dedicated hand surgeon at Campbell Clinic and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, was devastating to everyone who knew and loved him, as well as our community as a whole.

It was a tragedy amidst a growing trend, where seven out of 10 incidents of workplace violence in the U.S. occur in a healthcare setting, according to the CDC. This is beyond distressing to anyone who dedicates their professional life to caring for people.

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As we mourn Dr. Mauck, everyone at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare also knows that in emergency departments and trauma centers nationwide, the horrific impact of violence has tragically become increasingly common.

As you read this sentence, know that there is a health care worker — at Methodist Le Bonheur or another health system — working tirelessly to save a life or restore some semblance of health to a victim of intentional violence.

This level of brutality is intolerable. According to the Shelby County Crime Commission, the murder rate has risen 34% from last year to this year. Aggravated assaults have risen 6%.

While we are all coming to grips with Dr. Mauck’s death, there were 10 other killings and 27 shootings just in Memphis that week. And the problem is not just here at home.

A few days ago, a security officer was shot and killed in an Oregon hospital. In patient waiting rooms, at funeral services, and in homes with empty bedrooms, the shared heart-wrenching agony from these senseless crimes leads to the same desperate search for answers.

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With each headline of yet another act of violence, we are growing more fearful. In communities around the country, people are afraid to have dinner at a local restaurant, workout at a gym, enjoy a concert and simply maintain a normal life.

But these questions of “why” and “what can be done” continue to perplex us.

We all know that something must be done. The status quo is not sustainable. This simply cannot be the permanent condition of our beloved Mid-South or our nation as a whole. Security measures only get us so far.

There are simply not enough police and security officers to hire to “enforce” our way out of this.

We might start with an acknowledgment that there is no single solution. The prevalence of guns and the lack of regulation over possessing a gun is unconscionable. We need to hold our federal and state elected officials accountable.

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Our nation is awash in firearms, and this is a core component of the problem, along with limited access to mental and behavioral health treatment options. These are desperately needed tactical measures that must be acted upon.

But we must also start to think about problems like societal violence more expansively. In many ways, violence is both a symptom and a cause of a community’s lack of general well-being.

Unrelenting aggression in a community creates hopelessness and despair to be sure. But the reverse is true also. Hopelessness and despair can be a trigger for violent behavior.

Regardless of the trigger, there is never an excuse for such senseless violence against another person. We must do better to focus on community well-being broadly, as an interconnected web of influences, if we are to make a meaningful reduction in violence.

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We must avoid thinking about subjects like poverty, education, mental health, health care or crime as independent issues, each to be tackled on its own. They are not independent markers. They are each a part of a connected tapestry and ecosystem of general community well-being.

All community stakeholders have a role to play. Police and law enforcement agencies have a role. Teachers and the education system have a role. Social service and safety net organizations have a role.

And, yes, health care systems like Methodist Le Bonheur have a role. That’s because societal violence is a disease. And our responsibility to any disease is both treatment and prevention.

So, as health care providers like us work to restore victims of violence to wholeness, we also see patient encounters as an opportunity for us to screen for high-risk conditions; to educate patients and to refer families to support systems that can help with the drivers of social well-being.

To tackle a social epidemic so profound and deep, we must all work together. We must all put our politics and ideology aside and be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking.

Suspect at Hebrew Academy shooting is former student

Above all, we must embrace, not suppress, each of our God-given capacity for empathy and grace, toward our neighbors and fellow humans.

If everyone could feel the anguish of a mother whose son has been murdered; or the father of a daughter who has been killed; or a wife who has lost a husband, and a healthcare community that has lost a member of its family; we would be well on our way to establishing solutions to overcome this societal disease.