An Oakland nurse who cared for COVID-19 patients died after contracting the disease, her union said, one of more than 100 health care workers across California who have lost their lives to the virus.

Nurse Janine Paiste-Ponder, 59, who worked at Sutter Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, died on July 17, a press release from the California Nurses Association said Tuesday, which was also confirmed by the Alameda County coroner. She was a member of the union for more than 25 years.

“I just want Summit to know that they lost an amazing nurse,” Paiste-Ponder’s colleague, Toya Randle, said in a statement Tuesday. “She was a loving wife, a loving mother. … All the nurses have been pleading and expressing their fears of what could happen. … It falls on deaf ears.”

Colleagues will remember the nurse at a vigil Tuesday 4 p.m. at the hospital. They will also call upon management to provide more personal protective equipment and testing for employees who may be exposed to patients, even when they don’t show symptoms.

My best friend is a doctor at a hospital where they’ve had a #Covid outbreak among staff. It claimed the life of Janine Paiste Ponder. Janine was a nurse who took care of my mom when she was dying & I remember how kind she was

Rest In Peace Janine. Thank you for being a hero pic.twitter.com/oHdCErz8Yi

— Veronica De La Cruz (@VeronicaDLCruz) July 20, 2020

California Nurses Association Executive Director Bonnie Castillo said in a statement that “when Janine signed up to care for her patients at Summit, she did not sign up to sacrifice her life. Nurses need optimal personal protective equipment and testing, and they need it now.”

Sutter Health did not immediately respond to request for comment Tuesday morning.

Randle, who also recently tested positive, said she and Paiste-Ponder worked together in the medical/surgical unit. She said nurses were sometimes assigned five patients at once, including positive and non-positive patients, while changing out of the same personal protective equipment.

The union said the hospital has a policy of only testing symptomatic nurses, which is similar to some other medical facilities. Randle says she believes she was exposed to a known positive patient but not tested until she lost her sense of smell and taste. She tested positive on July 15.

Two days later, Paiste-Ponder died, she said.

“Janine was an exceptional nurse,” Randle said. “She was funny, she always helped. She was our friend, she was our sister, she was our coworker. And I can’t believe she is gone.”

Across California, 19,734 health care workers have tested positive and 107 have died, according to the state’s public health department Monday.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench